THE Sindh irrigation department is seeking around 50pc more funds for its development programme under the provincial annual development plan 2015-16 to focus on water conservation, given the climate-driven environmental changes taking place.

The provincial budget is expected to be presented before the Sindh Assembly on June 12.

The department has also proposed two mega projects for lining canals from outside the provincial ADP.

According to official sources, the department utilised almost 100pc of its allocation in this year’s budget and it received additional funds from savings of other departments.

For the next fiscal year, the department has sought Rs16bn for development spending, but the finance department has disagreed with the figure and called for rationalising its demand. Accordingly, the irrigation department submitted a fresh demand of Rs12bn to the finance department, against its allocation of Rs8.6bn for this fiscal year.

In the outgoing financial year, around 310 schemes — 150 new and 160 ongoing — were part of the budget. In fiscal 2015-16, the number of schemes would rise to 366, with 66 new ones related to drainage and irrigation.

The Sindh irrigation department is focusing on the canal-lining projects amidst reports that water availability would continue to get alarmingly scarce due to climate change

But the funds are mostly spent on ongoing schemes, while the newer ones get token allocations — like 10pc of the total cost — in the initial phase of their execution. The development schemes that are spread for over a year are funded in phases with back-to-back budgetary allocations.

Water conservation would continue to get priority in the budget FY2015-16, as indicated by this year’s focus on the execution of the Rs3.1bn lining project of Sukkur Barrage’s Rohri canal. Its second phase is being proposed for the new fiscal year.

Meanwhile, work on the installation of 500 solar powered tube-wells, with 250 each in various districts of Sindh and along the Left Bank Outfall Drainage (LBOD), would also be part of the upcoming budget. However, the work could start only in rural areas on these tube-wells.

The Keenjhar Lake’s ongoing upgradation, estimated to cost Rs4bn, is likely to be provided more funds in the new provincial budget.

Amongst the new schemes for the ongoing fiscal, the restoration of the old natural waterways (dhoras) — at a cost of Rs3.4bn — would be completed in the next fiscal year. These include the Larkana-Shikarpur drainage network; a canal scheme in Thar; a gravity flow-based dam in Kohistan, Dadu at Gamrach Dhoro; and the Kali Das Dam for storing rainwater in Nagarparkar etc.

“Mostly these schemes got meagre allocations in the outgoing fiscal. They are likely to get sufficient allocations in the new fiscal so that major part of their work is completed,” said the irrigation department’s additional secretary (technical) Aslam Ansari.

The major schemes are usually completed in phases, he added. Firstly, they are reflected in the budgetary estimates along with their total cost as well as the actual allocation for a given year.

Secondly, they get most of their allocations in the next fiscal year, and then get complete releases of funds for execution. “So this is why a scheme normally takes 2-3 years to be completed,” he said.

The colonial-era irrigation network has been in bad shape owing to a lack of investment, which results in water shortages and loss of agricultural productivity. Recently, the irrigation network was damaged by the 2010 super floods and the heavy rains in 2011, which forced the provincial government to spend billions of rupees immediately on irrigation works.

In all, 76 schemes were executed following the 2010 floods to repair and restore canals, mostly in the right bank areas of the Indus at a cost of around Rs26bn — funded by the Asian Development Bank. Around 20-25 ongoing schemes would be completed by the end of this fiscal year.

In addition to the demand of the Rs12bn development budget, two mega projects for lining the Rohri and West Jamrao canals have been proposed by the irrigation department in the FY2015-16 budget, at a cost of Rs9bn each.

The reduced distance (RD) 645 to RD670 of the Rohri Canal will now be lined amidst reports of some political-cum-real estate dimension at work behind the project. A 10km part of the canal was successfully lined in the outgoing financial year. Likewise, West Jamrao’s RD0 to RD59 would be lined as well.

In principle, the irrigation department is focusing on the canal-lining projects amidst reports that water availability would continue to get alarmingly scarce due to climate change. Lining conserves water and lessens the chances of breaches and seepage.

The department has been flooded with farmers’ requests for lining different channels, distributaries or branches to avoid seepage losses of an estimated 30pc.

Around 300 to 400 applications or requests were submitted by public representatives, seeking the lining of their channels. But not all of them will be approved. Around 20 lining schemes would become part of the ADP 2015-16.

Out of the proposed budgetary estimate of Rs12bn for FY2015-16, 25pc of the amount is to be earmarked for new schemes and 75pc for the older ones. The government’s commitment to the irrigation sector is indeed appreciable, but what matters no less is the transparent utilisation of public money.

Published in Dawn, Economic & Business, June 8th, 2015

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