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he lives of low-income communities and farmers residing on a hilltop in the Anzali locality of Ichrian town in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have been improved by the provision of a continuous water supply.
The community had been facing challenges to bring water to the top of the hill for routine use and for irrigating the crops. However, the International Water Management Institute, an international organisation working in Pakistan on water management and water governance projects, has helped by installing a hydraulic ram pump to lift water from a nearby stream to the top of the hill without requiring electricity, fuel or much expense. The project, locals say, has transformed their lives in terms of water supply and irrigating crops and feeding livestock.
The pump operates on a basic principle of gravity and water pressure. The IWMI researchers channeled downstream water through a pipe, creating pressure via a valve system to push the water uphill in a separate pipe.
The IWMI has initiated a number of pilot projects in KP to introduce innovative ways to provide water for agriculture. The organisation recognises that water security is a big challenge for Pakistan. The IWMI projects include distribution of soil moisture sensors to help the farmers learn whether their crops need irrigation. This helps them conserve water and save crops from over-irrigation.
Another IWMI project is an experiment in irrigating agricultural land through rainwater harvesting using drip irrigation. The technique is being used to grow paddy with less water. A similar experiment in Afghanistan increased rice production by 15 percent.
“Our life has become easier,” Imtiaz Ahmed, a community elder in Anzali village says. “We had to toil hard to fetch water up the mountain. People had been spending long hours for this,” he said, adding, “But now we are getting continuous water supply without a big cost or hard work. Though the supply of water so far is limited, we are happy.” The community, with the help from the IWMI, has also installed a tank to store water provided by the ram pump. The IWMI has set up three ramp pumps in Mansehra district as a pilot project. Water is thus being supplied from downstream to upto 1,000 feet above.
In Sarkai village of Charsadda district, Shazia Sami, a woman farmer, is using soil moisture sensors for water management of her sugarcane crop.
“The challenges are different in rain-fed and mountain areas. In this district out of 80,747 hector cultivated only 21pc of the land is canal irrigated. The rest is rain-fed. There is a dire need for water management here,” Naqaash Taj, a research officer for the IWMI says. The organisation is also facilitating the formation of water societies and collaborating with the district administration to expand affordable innovative ways to manage water for agriculture.
Rehmatullah Kundi, a senior engineer from Tank, has helped the IWMI install these pumps in Mansehra. Earlier, Kundi had worked on a similar project in Gilgit-Baltistan.
“There is a dire need for better water management and governance in KP,” Kifayat Zaman, team lead for KP Water Management Project of the IWMI told The News on Sunday. He said the organisation aims to promote climate-resilient agriculture and a model for sustainable development.
A flux tower each installed in Mansehra and Mardan are being used for land behaviour observations. These collect 70-plus climate related data. The variables include rain gauge, carbon emission, water molecules etc. The IWMI has also installed four flux towers in the Punjab, the highest number in a South Asian country so far. The data from these towers will help policy making.
“The projects aim to develop a good water management and information system,” Zaman says, adding, “We are doing pilot projects. In future, respective governments will take ownership of these projects and expand them.”
He says the IWMI has also helped governments set up water resources regulatory authorities and make laws regarding regulation of water use. “These innovations, if adopted by governments, can be a game changer for agriculture and a great step towards water management.”
The IWMI recognises water security as a defining challenge for development. Water security is also essential for a safe, sustainable future integrated into all United Nations Sustainable Development Goals. Water security means achieving and sustaining access to an acceptable quantity and quality of water for health, livelihoods, ecosystems and production, coupled with an acceptable level of water-related risks to people, environment and economies. Also, climate change is causing water risks to increase with every increment of warning. Rural communities and small-holding farmers are the most exposed.
The author is a staff reporter. He can be reached at vaqargillanigmail.com