PESHAWAR – The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government in KhyberPakhtunkhwa constructed eight small and medium dams during the last fiveyears, which are irrigating thousands of acres of barren and infertile landin the province.
The constructed water reservoirs include Mardankhel dam, Sarki Logar dam,Gholi Banda dam in Karak, Shahkaleem dam, Gul Dheri dam, Jalozai dam inNowshera, Dar Malik dam in Kohat, Kandhal dam in Swabi and Palai dam inCharsadda districts, a senior official in Irrigation Department told APP onSunday.
To preserve water resources and strengthen the agriculture sector, the PTIgovernment will construct 17 more new small and medium dams in differentdistricts, he said.
These new dams were approved by Provincial Working Development Party (PWDP)last year and a comprehensive mechanism was chalked during first 100 daysplan of the PTI government to expedite pace on these mega projects, hesaid, adding that efforts would be made to complete these projects by 2023.
The official said these projects are in addition to 255 mini hydro powerstations completed till October 1, 2018, in 12 districts of the province.
The PTI government keeping in view importance of water sector has allocatedRs 5645 million for 175 water projects including 171 ongoing costingRs5643.997 million and four new with the allocation of Rs1.003 million inthe current fiscal year.
The new projects include construction of Barawai irrigation scheme Matta inSwat, feasibility study of Nakai dam at Nowshera, construction of ChamakMaira dam in Abbottabad, national food protection plan and construction offlood protection works besides irrigation channels in the province.
The irrigation department also completed mega Baizai Irrigation Project inMardan that would irrigate more than 25000-acre lands in Mardan and Swabibesides completed Balambut Irrigation Scheme in Swat with the capacity toirrigate 14000 acres land in Malakand divisions.
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He said first-ever water policy has been prepared for effective management,supervision, and monitoring of water resources in the province.KP is thefirst province that prepared a comprehensive water policy under 100 daysplan of the PTI Government that would be implemented over the next fiveyears, the official said.
He said the policy will deal with key issues like pricing of water atdelivery point and provision of free water supply for environmental andecological requirements to combat challenges posed by climate change andglobal warming. Water policy for KP was necessitated after the province hassigned Pakistan’s first ever water policy and charter during Council ofCommon Interest (CCI) meeting in April this year.
As per the water policy, new Groundwater Authority (GW) will be set up inall provinces including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to ensure sustainability andtransparency besides information technology-based monitoring system at alldivisions point from rivers and reservoirs for compilation and availabilityof all time data and overall water requirements for agriculture anddomestic consumption, the official said.
He said 60 percent of the population is directly engaged in agriculture,livestock and 80 percent export of the country is based on these sectors.Agriculture is contributing to 25pc to GDP and employing 44pc of the labourforce, and that the country can face the drought-like situation if new damswere noted constructed by 2030.
The official said around 90 to 95pc of surface water and almost all freshgroundwater is currently used in agriculture due to tube well operationsand the province have needed a long-term plan for its water’s sustainablemanagement.
The new policy will also focus on increasing of development budget forstrengthening of water resources from 3.7pc to 10pc by 2019 and eventually20 percent by 2030, he said, adding water-starved Pakistan has all thepotential to achieve self-sufficiency in food sector through sustainableconservation and management of water resources on scientific lines.
