ISLAMABAD, Jan 8: The federal government has approved the construction of Three Storage Dams project in Gwadar district of Balochistan, and Drought Management Plan in the desserts of three provinces at an initial cost of Rs240 million.

According to official sources, the main objective of the Gwadar project is to enhance agriculture production in the project area by bringing 9,170 acres under cultivation and providing assured drinking water supply to 5,500 inhabitants by utilizing of 0.092 MAF of flood water through the construction of three small dams (gross storage 0.06 MAF, live storage 0.048 MAF).

The three small irrigation dams have been proposed to be constructed by the government of Balochistan as part of the overall package for financing under Omani long-term assistance of US$50 million. The dams will be constructed in the water-scarce area of Gwadar in the Makran coast, and need to be processed on high-priority basis for enhancing agricultural production in the project area.

Gwadar, the coastal district of Balochistan covers a geographical area of about 3,758,359 acres. The perennial surface and ground water resources are inadequate both in terms of quality and quantity to meet the drinking water and irrigation water requirements of the population. Sweet drinking water is a rare commodity; people have to traverse long distances to fetch water for fulfilling their domestic.

The hapless agriculture situation can be judged from the fact that only 7,329 acres are being irrigated and/or cultivated constituting 0.195 per cent of the total geographical area.

Rainfall is very scarce, usually 4 to 5 inches and ground water is almost entirely brackish and therefore cannot be used for any purpose whatsoever. Flood water is the only source which could be harnessed and utilized for irrigation and drinking purposes which at present drains into the sea without being utilized.

The Drought Management Plan project (water resource management) will be undertaken in the desserts of Cholistan (Punjab), Thar (Sindh), and Chagai Kharan (Balochistan).

The project aims at alleviating prevailing drought conditions by establishing an optimal network for the orderly integrated management of water resources.

It also includes survey, investigation, planning and management activities.