October 27, 2007	Saturday	Shawwal 14, 1428

PESHAWAR, Oct 26: The NWFP government has directed the authorities concerned to remove impediments in the construction of the Kurram-Tangi Dam in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan.

NWFP Governor Ali Mohammad Jan Aurakzai and caretaker chief minister Shamsul Mulk gave the directives at a meeting held here on Friday.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) approved the project in February 2005 with an estimated cost of Rs10.73 billion. An amount of Rs2.85 billion was set aside for the project’s execution in the current budget.

The meeting was told that despite having been approved at all relevant forums and despite allocation of the funds needed, the implementing agencies were unable to make much headway in the project.

It was further told that the reservoir of the dam would be located in the tribal territory, which would take at least four years to complete. The project will produce 83.40MW of electricity through five power stations.

The project will also provide water to augment existing irrigational facilities for 107,500 acres and 170,000 acres under the Civil Canal and the Marwat Canal systems respectively and will bring an additional 84,000 acres of barren land under cultivation.

As a result, not only will the capacity of the existing Civil and Marwat Canal systems be increased but the socio-economic conditions of the people of the North Waziristan Agency, Bannu, Lakki Marwat and Karak districts would also be improved.

The meeting also reviewed the environmental aspects of the project and it was decided to take necessary measures to remove all impediments at the earliest.

Both the governor and the caretaker chief minister assured the authorities of their cooperation in implementation of the project, particularly security aspects.

Besides, senior officials of the provincial government and the Fata Secretariat, Chairman Wapda Shakeel Durrani and Advisor to Prime Minister on Water and Power Riaz Khan also attended the session.