SWABI, July 5: The Rs4.78 billion Pehur High Level Canal extension project will bring about green revolution in Swabi district by cultivating land measuring thousands of kanals, said senior provincial minister Sikandar Hayat Khan Sherpao on Friday.

“The completion of the project will usher in a new era of progress and prosperity in the district by irrigating over 25,000 acres of land,” he said during a meeting at the site of the project here.

Mr Sikandar, who is also the minister of irrigation and power, said if all barren land in Swabi was irrigated, it would contribute a lot to making the province self-sufficient in wheat production.

“The Pehur High level Canal extension has been a longstanding demand of the local residents but the successive governments ignored it. However, the current government has realised the importance of the project and included it in the annual development programme and allocated Rs3 billion for it in the current fiscal,” he said.

The minister said Asian Development Bank had shown interest in funding the project and that the government was looking for other funding sources to ensure its completion on time.

“It is our utmost desire that this project should be completed as soon as possible,” he said.

He said the province had faced very difficult times and currently, the big problem was that no one was ready to invest here due to militancy.

Mr Sikandar said the militancy-hit province was located very far from the Karachi seaport and therefore, its industrial growth had suffered a lot.

“Currently, only our agriculture sector has the potential for development, which could provide self-employment to thousands of families in the province and thus, bringing prosperity and progress,” he said.

The minister said currently, 18 megawatts power was generated by Pehur Hydropower Complex and after the project’s extension, the total power generation would come to 25 megawatts.

He was earlier briefed by the relevant officials about the project.

Qaumi Watan Party chairman Aftab Sherpao presided over the meeting, where MPAs Shiraz Khan, Miraj Hamayun and Abdul Karim Thordher, irrigation secretary Akbar Khan, local chief engineer Riaz Khan and the district irrigation officials were in attendance.Later, the minister visited Pehur Hydropower Complex and Control Room, where the managing director of the complex briefed him about the project.