September 28, 2016
President Pakistan Businessmen and Intellectuals Forum (PBIF), President AKIA, Senior Vice Chairman of the Businessmen Panel of FPCCI and former provincial minister Mian Zahid Hussain on Wednesday said threat issued by Prime Minister of India to stop Pakistan’s water has highlighted the importance of dams and reservoirs in Pakistan.
The threat should not be taken lightly and masses should unite to bury the politics of dams forever in the larger national interest as India braces for a water war, he said.
Mian Zahid Hussain said that India continue to use water as a weapon against Pakistan which can damage peace in the region with global implications.
He said that dams and reservoirs are technical issues which have been transformed into serious political issues which is against the national interests as water scarcity continue to increase across the country posing serious threat.
We will not allow anyone to play with the fate of country as water is the basic ingredient for survival without which no one can survive, he said.
The veteran business leader said that water should be on the top of national security agenda and a policy should be made to counter external and internal threats so that country can remain fertile.
Government should start making dams and reservoirs on war footing and initiate plans to conserve water. Our ninety percent water is used by agricultural sector while a good quantity is wasted by the farming communities due to absence of any training.
Scarcity of water continue to increase across the country which has diverted attention towards ground water that is damaging water table, he noted.
Mian Zahid said that lack of planning waste 35 million acre foot of water annually which can save the economy from annual loss of three to four billion dollars.
Country faces floods every year while we have most of the world’s glaciers but water is a sought after commodity which is amazing, he said.
