Karachi News


DAWN/The News International, KARACHI	7 January 2006, Saturday, 6 Zilhaj 1426

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Kalabagh dam: Altaf asks Mohajirs not to let down local populace
Faith healer among 2 shot dead
Sindh rejects IPOE findings on water release
Dera Bugti TV booster blown up
Gas supplies to Uch plant of US/UK set to resume
US helping Pakistan fight extremism: Rice
Kalabagh dam: Altaf asks Mohajirs not to let down local populace
KARACHI: MQM chief Altaf Hussain has advised the Mohajirs to stand shoulder to shoulder with the hopes and aspirations of the local population, particularly in the case of Kalabagh dam.

Addressing a general workers meeting at the Lal Qila Ground, by telephone from London near the party’s headquarters ‘90’ on Friday, he reminded them of the mistakes committed one after the other since 1971, cautioning them against backing the Kalabgh dam, because that would derive a wedge between new and old Sindhis.

The vast ground was jam-packed with party cadres, overflowing into the nearby streets and lanes in Azizabad.

Hussain lamented that some of the Urdu speaking intellectuals were advising the Urdu speaking Sindhis to be on the side of the establishment, but he reminded them of the 1971 tragedy when Urdu speaking population had supported the Army against the Bengalis, their leader Sheikh Mujib-ur-Rehman and his Swami League.

The result was an obvious alienation of the migrants from India who had to pay a heavy price for their mistake, he said, adding, "Most of them were still languishing in refugee camps, whereas some were forced to beg on the streets and others suffered ignominy of hunger, squalor and poverty". They had backed the Army against the Bengalis’ aspirations and while the army men were repatriated home from Indian jails, these innocent people were left in the lurch, he recalled.

He advised the Urdu speaking Sindhis not to heed to such advices of Urdu speaking intellectuals, and asked the Sindhi speaking Sindhis to beware of the so-called nationalists, who in the company of Mumtaz Bhutto, had ignited a fratricidal warfare in 1972 after the introduction of Language Bill in the Sindh Assembly.

He asked the people whether they would still favour Kalabagh dam? The crowd yelled ‘no, no’. Hussain thanked them for their support to the party and said MQM would never go against the wishes and aspirations of the Sindhis.

Altaf further said that Bengal and Sindh were the two provinces that favoured Pakistan Resolution in their respective legislatures, adding, while Bengalis were hounded out of the country after being dubbed as traitors, a similar treatment was being meted out to Sindhis.

"This is a formidable tragedy. People who voted for Pakistan are being considered as unpatriotic," he said.

Faith healer among 2 shot dead

KARACHI: A faith healer was shot dead, while a drug-addict lost his life in a road accident, police said on Friday.

Abdullah, 40, a faith healer and a resident of Anthony Apartments near Cantonment Railway Station, was shot dead when unidentified gunmen after some arguments opened fire upon him near his house. Police said the deceased had been a sorcerer when he was in Hindu belief, but after embracing Islam, he changed his name, wed a Muslin woman and started practicing as a faith healer.

Quoting Safia, the wife of deceased, police said that some people, who had came to Abdullah for ‘Taveez’ on Friday, might have murdered him.

Police have found some ‘Taveez’ and porno pictures from the place, where this murder took place.

Meanwhile, Ghulam Hussain, 35, sustained bullet wounds when unidentified persons opened indiscriminate fire in the Karimabad locality in Azizabad police jurisdiction.

SUCCUMBS TO INJURIES: Ibrahim, 55, a resident of Lyari locality was admitted to the Civil Hospital in injured condition late on Thursday night. He succumbed to his injuries on Friday.

The elderly deceased was wounded when stray bullet hit him in Baghdadi police jurisdiction.

ACCIDENT: An unidentified 60-year-old man, probably a drug-addict, was crushed to death when a vehicle knocked him down near Lal Kothi, Sharea Faisal in Ferozabad police jurisdiction. The body was shifted to the JPMC and then placed in the Edhi morgue.

Sindh rejects IPOE findings on water release

ISLAMABAD: The Sindh government has outrightly rejected findings of the latest studies on escapages below Kotri barrage carried out by a three-member International Penal of Experts (IPOE), and sought 15 million acre feet of water below Kotri to check sea intrusion on surface water and address environmental issues.

According to a letter from Sindh Irrigation and Power Department with subject ‘Comments on final reports of studies on i) release of water to check sea intrusion; ii) water escapages to address environmental concerns’, the province submitted its grave concerns to the federal government.

In the report of the IPOE, which was formally revealed by Secretary of Water and Power Ashfaq Mehmood on December 28, 2005, total quantum of water of 8.6 MAF was recommended for release below Kotri barrage. The Sindh government demanded 15 MAF release below Kotri barrage.

According to the findings of the studies, escapages of 5,000 cusecs through the year, which means 3.6 MAF water per annum, is considered to be required to check sea intrusion, accommodate needs for fisheries, environmental sustainability and to maintain the river channel.

The studies also say that a total of 25 MAF in any five years period (an annual equivalent amount of 5 MAF) be released below Kotri as flood flows (Kharif period). The yearly releases can be adjusted so that average of 5 MAF is maintained.

The pattern for escapges below Kotri during Kharif (April to September) should either be greater or equal to 0.3 MAF. During the Rabi season (October to March) a flow of 0.3 MAF water per month has been recommended.

Sindh rejected the 8.6 MAF water releases below Kotri asking the experts to consider 15 MAF for Kotri below releases, which was earlier recommended by IPOE. According to the letter, the government has expressed that the concept of delta barrage on large meandering river Indus was not appropriate and practicable. The consultants and IPOEs also rejected this. It was, therefore, agreed that the idea of construction of delta barrage be dropped.

Instead the consultants have not completely ruled out the construction of delta barrage, but have expressed that at a future time with development of additional storage in the river Indus system, a structural measure could be considered.

Dera Bugti TV booster blown up

QUETTA: Rockets fired by unknown armed men hit a television booster in Dera Bugti and FC’s check-post in Pir Koh area, while a spy plan crashed in the Sibi district on Friday.

Officials said unknown armed men fired 15 rockets, targeting the FC check-post in Pir Koh area near the gas plant. The exchange of rockets firing between FC personnel and unidentified armed men continued for one and a half hours. However, no loss of life was reported. The officials said when the FC personnel retaliated; the unidentified armed men fled the scene.

In another rocket firing incident, the television booster of Dera Bugti was blown up by unknown armed men on Friday evening. The local administration rushed to the site and started investigation. No arrests were reported.

In Mastung district, four rockets were recovered from 2 kms west of the Mastung Cadet College. The police along with local administration raided the spot on a tip-off and recovered the rockets from an abandoned place. The local administration called the bomb disposal squad from Quetta to defuse them.

Meanwhile, a spy plane crashed in an open area near Marghzani village of Sibi, some 100 miles form here. The reason behind the crash could not be ascertained immediately. Further investigations are in progress. The law-enforcement agencies cordoned off the area. No official would confirm the crash.

Gas supplies to Uch plant of US/UK set to resume

ISLAMABAD, Jan 6: Gas supplies from a pipeline blown up by tribal militants in Balochistan were expected to resume to US and British-owned power plants by Friday, said a press release issued by Oil and Gas Development Company Limited. Two blasts early on Wednesday damaged a 24-inch (60cm) diameter pipeline in the Dera Murad Jamali area about 220km southeast of Quetta, cutting off gas supply to the 586-MW Uch Power plant.

The main shareholders of the Uch plant were Britain’s International Power and US firms Tenaska Inc and GE Capital. They sold electricity to Wapda.

US helping Pakistan fight extremism: Rice

WASHINGTON: US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice on Thursday said the United States maintained "a good relationship" with Pakistan and was helping Islamabad "in its efforts" against extremism.

In her remarks at the State Department Correspondents Association’s inaugural "Newsmaker Breakfast", Rice said: "The whole South Asia region is going to be very high on her list of priorities." Regarding relationship with India, she stated President Bush would visit the country "sometime this year".