October 20, 2003	Monday	Sha'aban 23, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

ISLAMABAD, Oct 19: The government has decided to launch a Rs20 billion irrigation system rehabilitation project in Punjab to overcome system losses estimated at 40 to 50 per cent.

An official told Dawn on Sunday that the project would be approved by the executive committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in the first week of December. It had been approved by the central development working party with certain conditions, he said.

The rehabilitation of selected irrigation systems and sub-systems will take place in six major zones of the province.

The project will be started in the current fiscal year with an initial allocation of Rs500 million and completed by 2007-08.

It will include strengthening of canal banks, rehabilitation of hydraulic structures and regulators, repair of buildings, augmentation of de-silting capability, upgradation of the irrigation research institute and improvement of the telecommunication system of the irrigation agencies.

It will have an annual recurring expenditure of Rs950 million and result in an annual saving of Rs1.2 billion after completion.

Irrigation systems in Lahore, Bahawalpur, Faisalabad, Sargodha, Multan and Dera Ghazi Khan will be covered under the project.

The Punjab irrigation and drainage system has deteriorated over the years because of deferred maintenance and clogging of irrigation channels and drains with sediments and debris.

“The delivery efficiency has become very low and is estimated at 40 to 50 per cent,” a summary submitted to Ecnec said.

It said the demand of irrigation water had increased, compelling the authorities to run higher discharges than the designed ones, which subjected the infrastructure to operational stress and caused erosion and weakened banks in canals.

The planning commission has objected to the project on the grounds that the cost estimates have been finalized without quantifying the works and unit costs.

It said there was no justification of procurement of earth-moving and workshop machinery at a cost of Rs1 billion.

It pointed out that the volume of earthwork and de-silting is large and the working period for rehabilitation and de-silting will be limited to the normal canal closures, which is mostly one month. It said it was difficult for the irrigation department to carry out the work independently and it would require a number of contractors with sufficient earth-moving machinery to do the job in one or two months.

The Punjab irrigation network comprises 21 canal systems with the total length of 3,993 miles, distributaries and minors of 19,291 miles, surface drainage system of about 49,000 miles, sub-surface and tile drainage system of 200,000 acres, 14 major barrages and 31 small dams.

Of the 23.35 million acres of gross command area, 20.78 million acres are under cultivation.