PESHAWAR: NWFP to seek centre’s help for drainage project
By Zulfiqar Ali
PESHAWAR, Sept 27: The NWFP government is likely to seek funds from the federal government to complete the remaining work of the National Drainage Programme (NDP).
Provincial Minister for Irrigation Hafiz Akhtar Ali said foreign donors had refused to continue financial assistance for the remaining work under the programme and the secretary for the irrigation department had been directed to prepare a summary to brief the chief minister on the status of the NDP.
“The chief minister will take up the matter with the federal government with a request to provide funds to complete the project,” he said.
The NDP was launched in the four provinces in 1997. The project was to expire in 2004, but it was extended till December 2006, an official said.
Sources said the Asian Development Bank, which financed the investment component of the programme, was reluctant to extend it.
Similarly, the World Bank, which was financing the institutional reforms component, had backed out from the programme about two years ago, because it was not satisfied with the pace of work, they said. The World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the Japan Bank of International Cooperation had provided assistance for the programme in the country.
The NDP’s objectives were preparing a drainage strategy, planning an environmentally-acceptable solution to disposal of agricultural, urban and industrial effluent, introducing policy reforms related to the water sector, restructuring key sector institutions and building up their capacity. Officials said the NWFP had received Rs1,864 million for planning and research, institutional reforms and investment components.
They said institutional and training components of the NDP had delayed in the province for some reasons and now it required more time and funds to complete the leftover work. An official said that of the total allocation for the programme, Rs1,400 million had been spent so far.
In its progress report, the NDP’s coordination cell says 721 kilometres existing surface drains in the province have been rehabilitated against the target of 1,540 kilometres.
Similarly, of 133 kilometres lining of canals, 31 kilometres were completed till July 2006.
Under the institutional component, according to the report, the provincial irrigation department will be decentralised to create room for establishment of a provincial irrigation drainage authority, which will work as an autonomous body.
Officials said the irrigation department was passing through a transition period and the decentralisation process would take 10 to 15 years.
