LAHORE, Nov 23: The World Bank is learnt to have asked the Punjab government to do away with interference, revamp and eliminate corruption in the irrigation department as well as the Punjab Irrigation Drainage Authority (PIDA) and completely hand over the canal system to farmers.

“Being the largest donor in the water sector, the World Bank has set as prerequisite conditionality before the Punjab government to make PIDA altogether independent and hence handing over the entire canal, water courses and minors control to the farming community along with assigning their tax revenue (abiana) collection to them.”

Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Elahi consequently has constituted a committee headed by Planning and Development (P&D) Board chairman Humayun Farshori and comprising finance secretary Salman Siddique, irrigation secretary Maj Javed Majid (retired) and agriculture secretary Capt Arif Nadeem (retired) to review the pros and cons. This committee would meet soon after Eidul Fitr.

Punjab Irrigation Minister Amir Sultan Cheema said here on Sunday that World Bank representative Abid Hassan during his recent meeting with the chief minister had showed serious reservations over the prevailing corruption, degradation and poor management in the PIDA and the irrigation department besides non-implementation of the terms and conditions of donor agency.

The World Bank, under a concerted programme, had funded the PIDA, which was formed with a view to bringing the entire canal system under the control of farmers’ organizations and thus eliminating the bureaucratic interference of the irrigation and power department likewise, in Sindh SIDA was formed.

But ironically the government could not abolish the bureaucratic control as the irrigation secretary was still enjoying the complete sway being the managing director of the PIDA.

Under the programme, the government would have to involve farmers of the province in canals level organizations but so far the PIDA could form only two or three such bodies.

While the World Bank is going to render another amount of Rs.60 billion approximately for the water sector to the provincial government, so it is also demanding increasing water charges and their collection by the farmers bodies.—PPI