K-P focuses on water resource management

UK govt-funded Water Resource Accountability Program to be initiated in Charsadda, Mansehra

PESHAWAR:

A high-level meeting regarding better management, conservation and efficient use of water resources in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) was held on Friday with the Chief Minister, Sardar Ali Amin Khan Gandapur, in the chair.

Provincial Minister for Agriculture Major (retd) Muhammad Sajjad Barkwal, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister Amjad Ali Khan, Irrigation Secretary Muhammad Tahir Orakzai, and Agriculture, Public Health Engineering and International Water Management Institute officials attended the meeting.

It was decided in the meeting to launch the UK government-funded Water Resource Accountability Program (WRAP) in K-P, which is aimed at providing technical assistance to the provincial government in managing, preserving and utilizing the available water resources in a more efficient and judicious manner.

Under the programme, the International Water Management Institute will extend technical assistance to the provincial government in six different interventions including Water Accounting and Productivity Assessment Tools, Early Drought Warning System, Water Resource Management Information System, Irrigation Demand Management, Water Allocation System and Capacity Building and Analytical Support.

Initially, the programme would be launched as a pilot project in two districts, Charsadda and Mansehra, and would later be replicated in other districts across the province.

It was also decided that proper Memoranda of Understanding (MoUs) would be signed between provincial departments and the International Water Management Institute for the implementation of the programme.

Addressing meeting participants, the Chief Minister said water conservation and its judicious use was the need of the hour which had become more relevant with the impact of climate change.

That was why, he said, the provincial government was working under a comprehensive strategy not only to preserve the available water resources but to use them efficiently.

He said the provincial government would welcome technical support from the International Water Management Institute in this regard, adding that the programme would be helpful in improving water use efficiency in addition to paving the path for agricultural self-sufficiency in the province.

He gave the assurance that the government would extend all-out support towards the implementation of the interventions suggested under the programme.

The Chief Minister on Friday also launched a five-day anti-polio campaign by administering drops to kids at a ceremony.

The drive is to start on July 1 and end on July 5 in different districts including Swat, Swabi, Tank, Upper and Lower North and South Waziristan, Dera Ismail Khan (DI Khan), Peshawar, Kurram, Bannu and Lakki Marwat.