64 dams completed in Balochistan

Provincial government was taking steps to solve water availability issues

QUETTA:

At least 64 dams have been completed in Balochistan to irrigate 25,850 acres of land across the province. The federal government had announced 100 small dams package in Balochistan out of which 64 have been completed while the rest of 36 are near completion, said an official of Balochistan government.

He said that the provincial government was taking steps to improve the underground water level and to solve the water availability issues in the province. The constructions of dams would help address the shortage of water and would bring the barren land under cultivation, he added.

The official said that the 100 dams project was consisted of five phases and in the first phase, 20 dams had been completed at a cost of Rs2.4 billion, while in the second phase, 24 out of 26 dams had been completed at a cost of Rs4.4 billion. “In the third phase, 20 more dams were scheduled to be completed at a cost of Rs7.6 billion. In the fourth and fifth phases, 23 and 11 dams will be completed by 2026,” he added.

Around 60 to 65 per cent work on the remaining dams has been completed,” he said, adding that no compromise would be made on the quality of construction. Balochistan neither has canal system nor has underground resources of water and rainwater is the only source of filling the dams, he said