LAHORE, May 23: Work on various components of the Greater Thal Canal, one of Wapda’s Vision 2025 projects, is on schedule or ahead, Engr Mumtaz Husain Sheikh, the project director has said.

Engr Sheikh was speaking to a group of journalists from Lahore. Wapda had arranged the visit.

Project officials hoped that the momentum would continue and the canal would be completed by June 30, 2007, if not earlier.

Not is time overrun the only frequent development project problem the Wapda hopes to avert. Cost overrun is another. Estimated at Rs61 billion in the initial Vision documents, the cost approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council is Rs30.467 billion. While it is too early in the project life to predict that the trend can sustain itself, the project director stated with some satisfaction that the two earth-moving contracts granted so far, had both been for amounts substantially below the original estimates. The cost for the first five-kilometre stretch had been nearly 25 per cent below the Rs20 million estimate. The second component, a 15-kilometre stretch, had been contracted at 49 per cent below the Rs40 million estimate. The project director attributed low rates to fiercely competitive bidding. For its part, Wapda has decided not to purchase the Rs70 million vehicles, approved for the project and make do with vehicles made available from other projects.

The project director said the local administration and the Irrigation and Power Department, which is incharge of land acquisition, had so far given his team no trouble. Early on, he said, the local people had expressed apprehensions of water logging. Once they were informed that the 35-kilometre main canal, as well as 342-kilometre branches were to be concrete-lined, they had not objected to it. Fortunately, he said, no major resettlement was involved.

On completion, the project is meant to serve 1.92 million acres of land in Khushab, Bhakkar, Leiah and Jhang districts between Thal and Rangpur Canals during Kharif season. The average benefit to farmers is expected to be Rs4,790 per acre. The improved farming is expected to supplement government revenue by Rs45 million a year. Water rate (abiyana) is proposed to be charged at Rs92 per acre).

TELEMETRY: Earlier, at a briefing on telemetry at Chashma Barrage, he said installation of telemeters at Chashma and Trimmu Barrages had provided a valuable means of additional verification on operation of barrages and water resource situation in the country.