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ISLAMABAD, May 7: The Indus River System Authority (Irsa) on Tuesday accorded certification to the controversial Greater Thal canal project with a 3-2 majority, while the Satpara dam project was approved unanimously.
The authority at its meeting on Tuesday was given a detailed presentation by experts from the Water and Power Development Authority about the two projects following which Irsa put the Thal canal project to vote, Irsa Chief Engineer Amanullah Khan later told a press conference.
Members from Punjab, Balochistan and NWFP voted in favour of the project, while members of Sindh and the federal government voted against it.
Member from Sindh Noor Mohammad Baloch, who is also the chairman of the authority, also gave a dissenting note.
“Federal member conditionally supported the project,” Mr Khan said. However, when asked whether the federal member voted for the project or against it, he said the federal member voted against the project.
Giving details of the project, he said that it would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs30 billion over a period of seven years.
The Thal canal, which would irrigate 15.3 lakh acres in four southern districts of Punjab, including Bhakkar, Jhang, Laiyha and Khushab, would have a total capacity of carrying 8,500 cusecs.
Mr Khan said the Thal canal would be opened only during the Kharif season and would supply a total of 2.49 MAF. It would draw 1.873 MAF under the para-II of the 1991 Water Accord and 0.624 MAF from flood water, he added.
Earlier, the formality of certification by Irsa to any new irrigation project, which is mandatory under the 1991 Water Accord, had not been fulfilled by the federal government.
The Executive Committee of National Economic Council had approved the project without the Irsa certification, which sparked a strong public reaction from the province of Sindh.
Subsequently, the issue was taken up at the level of the chief executive who desired that the project should be reviewed by Ecnec and all the legal and procedural formalities should be fulfilled.
The project was launched last year and President Gen Pervez Musharraf had inaugurated it along with several other irrigation-related projects.
About Satpara dam, Mr Khan said that it would be a multi-purpose dam, located 6km south of Skardu downstream Satpara lake on Satpara Nullah, a tributary of the river Indus.
The dam would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs2.9 billion over a period of four years and would have a total storage capacity of 45,400 acres feet and installed power generation capacity of 10,800KWh.
TELEMETRY SYSTEM: The telemetry system at Chashma and Taunsa barrages has started functioning from Tuesday, adds APP.
Telemetry system at the above-mentioned barrages has been installed on the special directive of President Gen Pervez Musharraf aimed at providing latest water position to provinces through this computerised system.
The government has allocated Rs450 million to install the most transparent water distribution telemetry system at 18 barrages of the country.
According to a senior official of the Ministry of Water and Power, telemetry system would be installed at all barrages of the country besides other points by the end of this year.
However, this system at Chashma and Taunsa was completed on a priority basis within 30 days.
“This system will build confidence among provinces regarding the distribution of water after the functioning of the latest method,” he said.
Talking to APP about the credibility of this system, he said all the developed countries were using same system for the distribution of water due to its credibility and transparency.
“The government is considering some other important points where this system will be installed after the completion of the project at 18 major points of the country,” he added.
Authorities concerned have been directed to start work on the project of installation of telemetry system for Indus Basin Irrigation System.
The objective of this system would be availability of online information about water availability and flows at the two dams and 18 barrages and building confidence among the provinces.
The components of the telemetry system will be measurement position of gates, water level and flows by censors, data transmission through satellite and installation of computer system for data analysis and information.
It may be mentioned here that the Ministry of Water and Power, Indus River System Authority, Wapda, Federal Flood Commission, provincial irrigation departments would be able to watch the distribution of water data of all dams, including Tarbela and Mangla beside barrages of the country. Data would be available to the above mentioned departments on the basis of 24 hours without any break.
