ISLAMABAD: The Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved a $150 million loan to upgrade two key barrages in Punjab – a project expected to reduce flood risk and support the livelihood of hundreds of thousands of farmers.

The upgradation of Trimu and Panjnad Barrages will result in supply of more reliable irrigation water to over 1.7 million hectares of farmland and benefit about 600,000 families.

Trimu and Panjnad Barrages are more than 80 years old, in poor condition and unable to provide stable water supply or to prevent significant downstream flooding.

The ADB assistance includes a $50m loan from its ordinary capital resources and $100m from its concessional Asian Development Fund.

An amount of $23m will be provided by the federal government. The project is expected to complete by September 2020.

The project will rehabilitate the two barrages and improve their capacity to cope with increased floodwaters and reduce the flood risk substantially, resulting in less loss of lives, livestock, crops and houses.

About 85 per cent of rural people in the project area live below a daily income of two dollars, and have suffered from increasingly frequent floods in recent years.

Published in Dawn, September 26th, 2014