GOMAL Zam dam has recently been completed in South Waziristan which includes power generation of 17.4 MW and the canal irrigation system that would irrigate 162,000 acres of land in Tank and Dera Ismail Khan districts.

Now Wapda is not going to take over the project from the contractor of the Frontier Works Organisation owing to unknown reasons. Whenever, we, the landowners, who would benefit from the irrigation component of the project, meet Wapda officers, they give us a new date for handing/taking over from the contractor and for allowing water to flow in the distributaries of the canal system for irrigating the lands.

The old irrigation system in our area called Rode-Kohi has already been disturbed because of the construction of barrage and canal lining for the last 10 years.

The area is now like a drought-hit land owing to which people are migrating from their native soil to the nearby areas of D.I. Khan.

This is just owing to the negligence of the federal government and Wapda authorities that the people are suffering this turmoil, despite the fact that the project has been completed.

We, therefore, expect the federal minister concerned and the Wapda chairman to intervene and start the irrigation system as soon as possible to help the poor people and farmers of D. I. Khan and Tank.

Faizullah Khan Gandapur
D.I. Khan

Published in Dawn, September 17th, 2014