Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) government has initiated construction work on seven small irrigation dams and water reservoirs, which would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs9 billion that would irrigate 14,135 acres of barren land in the newly merged districts (NMDs).
Briefing the media regarding performance of provincial irrigation department in Newly Merged Districts (NMDs), the KP Minister for Irrigation, Arshad Ayub Khan on Wednesday informed that a total of 24 irrigation schemes have been launched worth Rs35 billion in newly merged districts under the Annual Development Programme (ADP), which would be completed with provincial funds.
Around 20,000 kanal land will be irrigated after completion of 200 small irrigation dams in merged districts, he added.
The Minister said Bara dam would irrigate 85,000 acre while Jabba dam would irrigate 37,000 agricultural lands. He noted that 33 per cent of water was wasted owing to the lack of required number of water channels in the province.
According to the Minister, as many as 420 irrigation channels have been initiated to irrigate around 25,000 acres of land in newly merged tribal districts of KP..
Similarly, the minister informed that around 475 tube-wells have been converted into a solar system in the Fata region.
Arshad Ayub said that the provincial government had made a demand of Rs119 billion for supplying water to Punjab from 1992 to 2013.
However, he said there was no provision in law to get royalty on water. The federal government had approved the Chashma Right Bank Lift Canal (CRBC) project, which is a vital importance for ensuring food security of the province, in which 65 per cent share belongs to the centre and remaining is of KP.
Barrister Saif Ali said that development of merged districts is one of the government’s topmost priority.
Under the dynamic leadership of Chief Minister Mahmood Khan a holistic framework has been adopted for bringing the merged districts at par to settled areas of the province, he added.
In addition he assured the provincial government will ensure availability of all required funds and resources for the newly merged districts (NMDs) to bring it at par with the settled districts of the province.
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