March 22, 2006	Wednesday	Safar 21, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, March 21: A United States Agency for International Development (USAID) cash-for-work programme has cleared nine kilometres of two of the most-blocked irrigation canals in Batagram District and re-opened water for 810 acres of cultivable land that would benefit 750 farmers and their families.

When the earthquake hit Batagram District in Northern Pakistan on Oct 8, its fallout went beyond destroyed houses and lost lives. Rubble fell into irrigation canals that snaked from nearby streams through town markets and into surrounding agricultural fields. Already filled with silt deposits, the canals became choked, flooding some fields and drying others.

Preoccupied with emergency arrangements for shelter and provisions, local farmers could not afford to take on the task of clearing the water canals. The canals needed immediate rehabilitation as spring planting season has approached.

To clear the irrigation system with enough time for planting rice and wheat and to provide much-needed buying power to local residents, USAID funded a pilot programme to hire residents to clear water canals around Batagram. USAID partner Save-the-Children worked with the local department of water management to identify the worst-hit canals.