The federal government has agreed in principal to provide Rs 9 billion to Sindh government for the construction of 14 small dams in different parts of the province to overcome the water scarcity. It will be recalled that there was a longstanding disagreement between Islamabad and Sindh on their respective monetary share in the Rs 12 billion project of developing over 200 small dams across the water-thirsty province. Pakistan Muslim League-Q led federal government wanted the government of Sindh to contribute 50 percent (Rs 6 billion) of the total amount, with the latter insisting more and more funding from the center. "As a matter of principle the federal government has guaranteed to give us a sizeable share... Rs 9 billion after we prepare feasibility reports of the projects," Sindh Minister for Power and Irrigation Jam Saifullah Dharejo told Business Recorder on Thursday. The minister said work was started on 11 sites identified for the construction of dams while feasibility reports of 5 to 6 dams, including two in Kohistan, were under preparation. He said dams to be built on the Nayabaran River would cost the government of Sindh around Rs 4 billion. Official sources in Sindh power and irrigation department, however, said the Sindh government has not sent PC-I of the small dams project to the federal government. The feasibility work, they said, was in the last stages. The provincial government has a plan to construct at least five dams on Nayabaran River, said the sources, adding that the size of the dams would be determined after completion of the feasibility reports. They said Sindh government was also planning to develop small dams type reservoirs in Nangar Parkar. According to the sources the previous government was thinking of providing the entire money to the Sindh government, "but the intentions of the present government are still not clear." They said the project, which is aimed at recharging the underground water table, would be completed in different phases and Sindh government in the first phase would build at least 14 small dams in different parts of the province, including two, Cold Dam and Parekh Dam, in Karachi.