Project Launched”: Conserving rainwater for agriculture

A “Rain Harvesting Project” has been started to rehabilitate the groundwater table in arid parts of Rawalpindi division to optimise the area for agriculture.

Agency for Barani Areas Development (ABAD) Director-General Tariq Javed Malik said at a meeting on Thursday that the project aimed to conserve rainwater, which was presently not being properly utilised.

According to a press release, the project will be completed within two years. Malik said studies have shown that one million hectares of rainwater was going to waste per annum in arid areas and there was an urgent needed to conserve and use it for agricultural purposes.

Rawalpindi Region Forests Conservator Dr Muhammad Rafique said that under the project, the forest department will plant one million plants in arid areas of Rawalpindi, Attock, Jhelum and Chakwal during the current tree plantation campaign and the next one during the monsoon season.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 7^th, 2014.