Premier says non-controversial water storage projects to be prioritized under water accord with provinces
STAFF REPORTER
ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif said on Tuesday in view of India’s nefarious designs to weaponise water, the government had decided to enhance the water storage capacity in the country. During a visit to the National Emergencies Operations Centre (NEOC), the prime minister said that an international court (Permanent Court of Arbitration) announced a supplemental order, emphasising that India had no authority to suspend the Indus Waters Treaty unilaterally. “But the enemy has certain evil designs against Pakistan and wanted to take steps against the waters treaty,” he said adding that in view of this, the government had decided to fast-track the non-controversial water storage capacity projects under Water Accord with the provinces, as the same had a legal provision in this regard. He stressed that the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) had a critical role in this regard also. The prime minister directed that weather warnings and calamity threats should be regularly issued through SMS and phone messages in collaboration with PTA. In his remarks telecast on the national TV channels, he further recollected the disastrous impacts of the catastrophic floods during 2022, causing the entire country to suffer from the trails of natural calamity. PM Shehbaz said Pakistan, unfortunately, was among the countries on the world map which could be hit by natural disasters like cloudbursts despite the fact that the country had hardly any contribution to the greenhouse effect. During the year 2022, Pakistan had suffered more than any country in the world, he observed. The premier further said that the glacial melting due to heat waves also demanded the highest level of preparedness. “What happened in Swat in which precious lives were lost, engulfed the entire nation in a pall of gloom,” he said and stressed that they should take an honest review of the incident, directing a formulation of a comprehensive mechanism in collaboration with the provinces to prevent such occurrences in the future. The prime minister also directed fo
