PESHAWAR, Feb 22: Construction of two small water reservoirs has begun in Kurram Agency at an estimated cost of Rs168.863 million, officials said. Official estimates show that with the completion of the two reservoirs - Kot Ragha and Maldani dams - some 1,600 acres barren land would be brought under cultivation in the lower Kurram Agency.

The NWFP Governor's Fata Secretariat has planned to construct 12 small dams in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) to bring more area under cultivation and control flashflood phenomenon in the region bordering Afghanistan.

Under the plan, six small reservoirs will be constructed during the annual development programme (ADP) for the year 2003-04 for Fata, and work on the remaining six dams would be started in the next financial year.

The construction of the 12 small water reservoirs would cost Rs1,054.447 million, while Rs457.2 million had been allocated in the current ADP of Fata. Irrigation projects, including flood protection schemes, in Fata were being financed under the federal government's public sector development programme (PSDP), according to the officials.

Elaborating the features of the two small dams in the Kurram Agency, an official said Kot Ragha reservoir had total 1,350af storage capacity and the area under command was about 500 acres.

He said the second dam, Maldani, had total 2,976af storage capacity and 1,100 acres land would be irrigated in the area. He added that the these reservoirs being constructed on two tributaries, originating from the Koh Sofaid, would also help in resolving the issue of soil erosion in the catchement areas.

The officials said work on a small dam in the Mohmand Agency had been completed while the feasibility report of the remaining nine small water reservoirs in Fata had already been prepared.

The government has also planned to construct a water reservoir on river Bara, Khyber Agency. The proposed dam would irrigate some 40,000 acres land in the Khyber Agency and 10,000 acres in district Peshawar.