PM Imran approves projects for conservation of 9 MAF water

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Imran Khan on Wednesday gave go ahead to the Ministry of National Food Security & Research to develop three major projects for conservation of 9 million acre feet (MAF) water, ARY News reported.

Chairing a meeting on water conservation at PM Office, the PM approved three projects aimed at conserving water through lining of the watercourse across the country and laser leveling of the fields, enhancement of 6,00,00 acres of command area of small and mini dams and water conservation in Barani areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

“These interventions are in line with the agenda of the PTI Government. The Prime Minister’s first 100 days agenda includes massive expansion in water conservation efforts through smart interventions to reduce water losses,” reads a statement issued from PM Office in this regard.

A project named “National Program for improvement of Watercourses in Pakistan Phase-II”, would be undertaken across the country with a target of lining of over 73,000 watercourses and laser leveling of 12,110 units.

It was decided that the government will also subsidize laser-levelers for all the provinces with emphasis on Sindh.

The PM was informed that an in-utilized command area of around 6,30,000 under small dams and mini dams can to be developed by scaling up pilot intervention made earlier by PARC and Agency for Barani Area Development Punjab.

The PM was also told that rain water conservation in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa requires small investments in infrastructure and can be implemented through the local governments.

These infrastructure changes include construction of check dams, water retaining facilities, water storage reservoirs, spurs, water ponds and terracing etc to harness rain water for its use in irrigation and other purposes.