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| November 18, 2005 | Friday | Shawwal 15, 1426 |
Sindh irrigation system needs improvement: WB official
HYDERABAD, Nov 17: The task leader of the World Bank-funded on-farm water management project in Sindh, Mr Usman Qamar, has noted shortcomings in the irrigation system of the province. e said that the irrigation infrastructure was in a deplor-able state and huge investments were required to improve its operational maintenance.
He said the present irrigation system was replete with some basic flaws which were hampering judicious distribution of water to tail-end growers.
He was speaking to journalists at the irrigation office in Barrage Colony on Thursday. Other members of the WB mission who accompanied him included senior community development specialist Qazi Azmat Isa, water resources specialist Mohammad Aslam Rasheed and agricultural economist Altaf Iqbal.
Mr Qamar said that usage of water, judicious distribution and returns needed improvement and added that there was no lining of watercourses with the result that water losses took place at the farm level.
“The distribution system of water is not in a good shape and people do not get their authorized share, and there is no mechanism to redress their grievances forthwith,” he said. No measures had been taken to hear complaints of people who wanted to get water as per their share, he added.
He said that in every system the cost of maintenance was a sine qua non for its smooth working and if there was no investment in the system it would affect its working. He said funds were needed for operational maintenance of the system. He referred to the Sukkur Barrage which had undergone massive repair work because it was considered jugular vein of Sindh’s irrigation system.
“The distribution system at the lower end is in a bad shape,” he said, adding that judicious distribution of water remained a big problem. He said there were also canals where water did not reach a considerable distance.
He stressed the need for improving the system by putting all resources together and said Abyana collection was one of the best resources.
Mr Qamar called for participation of farmers in the water management system to end disparity, saying their opinion should be sought for running a big water network.
He said lining of watercourses always saved 50 per cent losses and disclosed that the National Programme for Improvement of Watercourses and the WB’s on-farm water management programme would be merged after modalities were worked out for which the mission was visiting Sindh. He said that under the national programme, 29,000 watercourses were to be lined in five years and under the WB programme, 4,000 watercourses would be improved in four years.
So far, he said, no corruption had taken place in the WB programme, adding that the programme’s performance would be assessed regularly. He said people were to be trained under the programme and offices were to be established.
He said the WB had released for its programme a grant to the federal government which was interest-free and the government was under no compulsion to take the grant. He said the national programme of improvement had been launched by the federal government after due deliberations and it would yield good results as far as water losses were concerned.
Mr Qamar said quality control in watercourses’ improvement was being checked by a particular unit and if any flaw was noted it would be rectified. He said the programme would be monitored at the district level and the working labour would have only one leadership after the merger of the two programmes. He said they were taking feedback from their teams and soon there would be only one programme.
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