February 5, 2003	Wednesday	Zul Hijjah 3,1423

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PESHAWAR, Feb 4: The sedimentation in the Warsak Reservoir, constructed on the Kabul river, is badly affecting water flow and capacity of the irrigation channels of the district, officials said.

Irrigation department officials estimated that every year seven million cubic feet silt was removed from four major canals — Kabul River Canal, Hazarkhwani Canal, Warsak Gravity Canal and Jui Sheikh Canal — passing through the Peshawar district.

The capacity of the Kabul and Warsak canal systems — originating from the Kabul river — irrigating 205,000 acres agriculture land in the valley, had been remarkably reduced owing to the sedimentation, according to officials.

The total length of the four irrigation canals include Kabul River Canal, Hazarkhwani Canal, Warsak Gravity Canal and Jui Sheikh Canal is around 150 km.

The NWFP government had allocated a sum of Rs70 million to desilt irrigation channels across the province during the current season, out of which Rs11 million were earmarked for the district, they said.

Elaborating the reasons responsible for the increasing level of the silt in the water channels, an official said that since Warsak Reservoir had silted up, the quantity of sediment had increased in the canals.

He said that the storage capacity of the reservoir, situated some 30 km north of Peshawar, had reduced largely which also affected its generation capacity.

Currently, Warsak power house, constructed in 1961, generates only 105 MW electricity.

Irrigation officials believed that water carrying capacity of the channels had reduced four times than the other canals of the province, while desilting cost increased as each year passed.