ISLAMABAD: Federal Minister for Climate Change Senator Musadik Malik has stated that powerful individuals have constructed resorts along riverbanks, resulting in the displacement of entire villages to protect them.
Speaking to a private TV channel, Senator Malik said that there is an atmosphere of mistrust among provinces over dams and canals.
“Each province doubts the other. Balochistan suspects that Sindh withholds water, Sindh receives water but does not share it further,” he remarked.
He added that whenever dams and canals are discussed, consensus is never reached. The only solution to end this mistrust is telemetry, work on which has already begun and is expected to be completed within a year or so.
Senator Malik stated that people have cultivated land inside the rivers, and the country is dominated by elite culture.
“No poor man owns a hotel by the riverside; every resort belongs to the powerful. To save a few resorts, entire villages were uprooted,” he said.
The minister further said that Sargodha has started to be affected by flooding, and once all rivers merge at Panjnad, the water flow is expected to reach up to one million cusecs.
He informed that, based on advance warnings, people and livestock are being evacuated. “In one village, 30 people refused to leave. We pleaded with them to evacuate, and today that place is under water,” he revealed.
Musadik Malik emphasized that without water reservoirs at the tehsil and district levels, the situation will remain dire. “We must create natural reserves for water everywhere,” he concluded.
