President Dr Arif Alvi on Saturday said that Pakistan was at a tipping point, progressing and all indicators were positive. He stated this while addressing a ceremony on ‘Screening of Docudrama -2021 Paani Ke Pankh’, which is about Mohmand Dam and it was dubbed by its producer Tooba Baig as ‘(From) War to Water’, at Sindh Governor House here. President Arif Alvi said that water should be used in accordance with needs in-country and construction of dams was need of the hour. He said that docudrama presented two facets one was that how the country fought a war on terrorism and restored peace and second was the importance of water.
Paani Ke Pankh, the docudrama based on the concept of War to Water produced by Tooba Baig from JB Films, held its exclusive screening at Governor House Karachi on 13th February with The Honorable President of the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Dr Arif Alvi as Chief Guest, The Honourable Governor of Sindh, Mr Imran Ismail as Guest of Honour, Chairman WAPDA, Lieutenant General Muzammil Hussain (Retd), Chairperson JB Films Mr Mirza Jamil Baig, Producer Tooba Baig, and Journalist Zunaira Azhar.
Paani Ke Pankh talks about the struggles of people of Mohmand who have been dreaming about the Mohmand Dam for the last fifty years. The 30 minutes-based docudrama, written by Umera Ahmed and directed by Farooq Mannan, talks about the land of Mohmand Dam that was once famous for the healthy and long lives and how by the time it became the land of dead bodies. Initiated by PM Pakistan in 2019, Mohmand Dam has now become the hope for the people as they have been hearing about the dam since 1963.
The very young and aspiring Producer of JB Films and Paani Ke Pankh, Ms Tooba Jamil Baig expressed her interests in Pakistan’s culture and its rapid movement towards development that led her to initiate the project and finally execute and produce it. As she quoted “Inshallah my team at JB Films and I will continue to work on such national projects with the aim of taking Pakistan to the global stage,” she implied the importance to showcase true stories from Pakistan to the world.
“Paani Ke Paankh” is a national docu-drama showcasing the revival and importance of hydropower development in Pakistan. It sheds light upon the national journey from “War to Water”, and suggests the dire need to shift pragmatically towards clean and green energy. It draws attention towards the construction of mega-dams, that has kickstarted after a gap of five long decades. Paani Ke Pankh was officially launched by Prime Minister Imran Khan at the PM House Islamabad on Thursday 28th January 2021. The docudrama is a landmark achievement in terms of content, quality and international production values.
Produced by JB Films, the leading film production company of Pakistan helmed by Mirza Jamil Baig, the Chairperson of the company and Tooba Baig, the visionary Producer of the docu-drama ‘Paani Ke Paankh”. As of now, JB Films has 4 feature films in various stages of Production aiming to release within the year.
Chairman WAPDA, Lieutenant General Muzammil Hussain (Retd) briefed the struggle from war to water and emphasized water security that can Pakistan to the next level. He further added that currently, the project stands at the 26 billion dollars investment, Mohmand Damn being the pilot project. For a war drawn area, it was impossible to initiate the project without the constant support of KP people and our security forces; he added while talking about the long struggle.
The Honourable Governor of Sindh, Mr Imran Ismail as Guest of Honour thanked the team for conveying the real message to the audience. He expressed his concerns that how previously water projects were not our priority. He further added that water projects are the highest need of the time, not just the new projects but also the projects that can increase the capacity of old dams.
Journalist Zunaira Azhar, being the mastermind behind the research and concept of Paani K Pankh, expressed her attachment towards the for-granted beauty of Pakistan and it forced her to come close to the people of Mohmand. “For a war drawn country to make this kind of development in terms of Mohmand Dam is the story of KP people and how they defeated terrorists”, she added.
Farhat Kapadia Mehboob
From multiple ribbon-cutting ceremonies in the past, 36 crores daily loss, the actual project initiated by PM Pakistan Imran Khan without any ribbon-cutting ceremony, said Federal Minister for Water Resources, Faisal Vawda while explaining the progress of Mohmand Dam from book to reality. He also appreciated Tooba Baig for focusing on such topics and further hoped to see more projects like these.
