April 1, 2006	Saturday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 2, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, March 31: The Agency for Barani Area Development is expected to complete construction of 19 mini-dams in and around the Rawalpindi district by the end of June.

To check the immense loss of water resources in Potohar uplands and to gain maximum benefits from the available water resources, Abad has initiated a number of schemes for the construction of small dams, a senior official of the agency told Dawn.

With the completion of the 19 dams, the number of mini-dams in the district will rise to 93. The new mini-dams are being constructed in the tehsils of Gujar Khan, Pind Dadan Khan, Talagang, Attock, Pindigheb and Jhand.

The agency will also complete the construction of eight ponds bringing the total to 119, he said.

The Potohar plateau is endowed with substantial unexploited fresh grounder and surface water resources. To harness and utilise this natural potential, a number of interventions have been initiated and completed like construction of 260 mini-dams and 183 ponds having the storage capacity of about 11,000 acre feet of water, construction of 1,620 wells, 37 shallow tubewells along the river belt in Pind Dadan Khan tehsil and 67 lift irrigation schemes.

With these interventions, more than 10,000 acres area has been brought under irrigation. The official said for the optimum utilisation of water, ABAD had organised 80 on-site training workshops on water use efficiency in all the tehsils.

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