$43 billion could have changed Pakistan
September 29, 2010
News worldwide — Pakistan lost $43 billion in the aftermath of floods. This is the figure announced by PM Yosuf Raza Gillani, while more
damages are yet to be calculated. One may wonder what could have prevented this flood devastation. The answer is not very hard to find and it is huge water storage systems; the dams.
Dams are the ultimate and perfect water storage capacitors and Pakistan like any agricultural country is dependant on this kind of strong water storage system but facts reveal a different state of affairs.
Unfortunately, years and decades have passed and still the political parties are not done with there political maneuvering on the subject matter of dams. The history is evident how Dams have been used to divide opinion all around the country. The votes are casted by farmers that are dependant on water to earn their bread and butter, have never understood the demarcations made on their initial rights.
Facts reveal that a large dam like Kalabagh could have reduced the damage of recent floods by large if it would have been on its place as it would have stored a huge amount of flood water as well as it would have divided it in its canals system in a manner that could have avoided the $43 billion loss.
Now that the figure of the loss is known, it is important to understand the complexity and sensitivity of the situation as it is neither the first nor last flood in the history of Pakistan. With an immense increase in the global warming, it is already predicted and reported by many authentic sources that by 2035 the Himaliya glaciers will diminish and it certainly means more and more floods every year before monsoon seasons in Pakistan.
Can we afford a $43 billion loss every year? Or would it be a better option to actually invest $43 billion on building large dams in Pakistan. We do know that a large dam cannot be built before next monsoon but we are not done with consensus yet on the issue.
Posted by Angelia Kates · Filed Under Opinion
4 Responses to “$43 billion could have changed Pakistan”
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