PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Mohammad Sohail Afridi has asked the federal government to start physical work on the Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) and arrange funding for this project from the public sector development programme (PSDP) or donor financing.

In a letter addressed to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif, Mr Afridi said a long delay in the execution of the mega project was creating mistrust between the federal government and the people of KP.

He said the KP government had taken up the issue with federal authorities on several occasions over the last few years.

“At the time of the approval of the Water Apportionment Accord in 1991, it was decided to develop one mega irrigation project in every province. As per that decision, Thal Canal has been constructed in Punjab, Rainee Canal in Sindh and Kachi Canal in Balochistan but the CRBC, the first lift-cum-gravity project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, has not been executed despite a lapse of 35 years,” he said.

CM writes to PM for arranging required funds to ensure start of physical work on delayed project

The chief minister said that in March 2016, the Council of Common Interest (CCI) decided that the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government would present a new PC-I for Chashma Right Bank Lift Irrigation Canal Project with 65pc and 35pc contribution by the federal and provincial governments, respectively.

He also said that the CCI had agreed that the province would be responsible for the operation and maintenance of the canal.

“Keeping in view the critical importance of this project for the province, the provincial government agreed to 35pc financing even though the project should have been financed and executed entirely from PSDP,” he noted.

Mr Afridi said that on the recommendations of CDWP, the ECNEC later approved the project’s PC-I in a meeting on Oct 2022, while the ministry of water resources issued administrative approval for the construction of Chashma Right Bank Canal (Lift-Cum-Gravity) project, Dera Ismail Khan, in November 2022 at a cost of Rs189.606 billion, including Rs180 billion foreign exchange of the Rs180 billion foreign exchange component.

He said that the CRBC project would off-take from the right bank of Chashma Barrage, with the canal commanding areas of Dera Ismail Khan plains above the existing CRBC (gravity) canal extending up to the KP-Punjab boundary.

The chief minister said the project’s command area was located west of Chashma Right Bank (Gravity) Canal and there were vast tracts of potentially productive lands in Dera Ismail Khan plains, which were lying uncultivated.

“Total cultivable command area available for the irrigated agriculture development is 323,077ha (798,000 acres). However, the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) has allocated (1.187MAF, Kharif: 0.614MAF; Rabi: 0.573MAF) water for Chashma Right Bank Canal (L&G) project, which can meet irrigation requirement of 2,86,140 acres of cultivable command area,” he said.

Mr Afridi also said that the CRBC project had a canal length of 130.76km with designed discharge of 2,556 cusecs of water.

He said that the general area of the project had remained volatile due to low economic and social indicators, although millions of acres of land was available for cultivation but due to absence of irrigation, the land was lying barren.

The chief minister said that construction of the CRBC Canal system would generate around Rs38 billion per year in the area.

“This region has already been worst affected by terrorism and poverty. Economic activity based on agricultural inputs can alleviate the area of this menace through employment generation. Special Economic Zones and industrial parks can also be developed keeping in mind the vast potential of the project and close proximity to CPEC Western Route,” he said.

Mr Afridi also said that the project would also help reduce the country’s import bill for staple food, ensuring food security not only in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa but in Punjab as well.

Pointing out the issues delaying the execution of the mega project, he noted that since the approval of the project in Nov 2022 by the Ecnec, Wapda was unable to finalise the prequalification and procurement process, and was delaying the process on one pretext or another.

The chief minister said that a land acquisition collector had been posted for the project by the KP government but the process was facing delays because of Wapda.

He insisted thatRs2 billion was released to Wapda in 2024-25for land acquisition.

Mr Afridi said that In 2025-26, KP had made further allocation of Rs5 billion for land acquisition, with Rs2.2 billion released to Wapda, whereas the federal government had made an allocation of Rs100 million only in the current fiscal’s PSDP.

He urged the prime minister to direct the water resources ministry to arrange required funding through PSDP or donors and ensure start of physical execution at site without further delay in the country’s best interest.

Published in Dawn, November 25th, 2025