Abbottabad gets key irrigation project

Scheme worth Rs1.3m aims to irrigate over 100 kanals of agricultural land

ABBOTTABAD:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government completed an irrigation project worth Rs1.3 million aimed to irrigate over 100 kanals of agricultural land in Almira Atla.

The project was inaugurated jointly by Member K-P Assembly Qalandar Khan Lodhi and Director General (DG) Irrigation Javed Iqbal Khattak.

Speaking on the occasion, the DG said that the incumbent provincial government had earmarked record funds for the agriculture department since its establishment.

In the province, the first phase of the National Programme for the Reform of Soils in Bannu, Malakand, Swat, Buner and other districts was started by then president Pervez Musharraf, while the second phase was initiated in 2019 under the PTI government, he said.

The DG said that the results of the five-year project would be reflected through conservation of water, irrigation of additional area, and increase in production of high-quality crops as modern methods of irrigation were being adopted.

Drip irrigation was being introduced to irrigate agricultural land due to the lack of water in Abbottabad, he said.

Javed said that the population of the country had increased, and in order to meet the needs of the growing population, the K-P government had brought a revolution in the agricultural sector, the effects of which would be apparent soon.

He said that to protect green belts and avoid polluting water, the provincial government would soon enact legislation, as the main objective of the Irrigation Department was to take measures to conserve existing water resources.

Moreover, he said that construction on agricultural land should be banned and the land should be reserved for agricultural purposes only.

The water management staff has also installed a solar-powered rain pump, which can be used to water upper areas from the ravines, nullahs and streams.

The inauguration ceremony was attended by District Officer Irrigation Reform Department Shahid Mehmood, other officers of the department and a large number of farmers.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 23^rd, 2022.