KOHAT: A small dam nearing its completion is expected to irrigate 2,200 acres of land and also resolve the water shortage problem in the mountainous Shakardarra, which is rich in oil and gas wealth.

The Khattak Banda dam is likely to become functional in March 2025 at a cost of Rs1,607 million.

The Shakardarra Town, where the dam is located, is at a distance of 65 kilometres from the Kohat city.

Eng Idrees Khan, executive engineer of the small dams department, told Dawn on Friday that the height of the rain-fed dam was 143 feet with the length of the canal spanning 10 kilometres. “It would bring a vast area under cultivation.”

He said the dam’s storage capacity stood at 8,557 acre feet of water, which he added would bring a revolution in the people’s life.

Eng Idrees said paucity of funds delayed the completion of the dam. He said 90 per cent of work had been accomplished with the provision of 86pc of financing by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government.

Mr Shafique, a local elder, hoped the dam would play an important role in the development of the drought-hit region.

Attempts had been made in the past to bore the water, but it was not consumable due to oil and gas smell in it.

He said Oil and Gas Development Company provided the people with water through tankers, but such a mechanism could not meet the needs of all the households.

He said dozens of wells of OGDCL and the Hungarian exploration company had been pumping oil and gas worth billions of rupees since 2003, but no permanent solution had been found to the water shortage problem in the region, forcing people to also buy water to meet their demand.

TRADER KIDNAPPED: A differently-abled businessman carrying Rs850,000 was kidnapped at gunpoint from a cattle market on Friday.

His mother told reporters that her son was a cattle dealer, and demanded of the authorities to ensure his safe recovery.

A brother of the kidnapped man, identified as Adnan, appealed to the provincial police chief, the regional police officer and district police officer to locate his whereabouts.

His brother quoted eyewitnesses as saying that he was bundled in a vehicle and whisked him away to an unknown place.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2025