LAHORE: Provincial Minister for Irrigation Mohsin Leghari has said desilting campaign in Mangla Command canals has been extended to January 31 due to the recent rains which slowed down the works.
Talking to the media, during a desilting inspection of the Lahore Canal, the minister said the draft of the provincial water act was ready and the law department was fine-tuning it. He said this act was one of the key initiatives of the government in ensuring sustainable management of the province’s water resources. He said the water table in Lahore was dropping at an alarming rate of 2-3 feet annually due to unabated extraction and that Pakistan was among the most profligate water users in the world as our water productivity was one of the lowest. Due to our inefficient irrigation methods and wastefulness in urban water use, our water resources are seriously stressed. Water situation in the province and in the country is a serious cause of concern for the whole nation. The minister urged the media to raise awareness on prevailing water situation in the province and to highlight the need for adopting efficient water use methods including rainwater harvesting, efficient irrigation and water recycling.
He said Punjab Irrigation Department’s infrastructure has been valued at over Rs2,500 billion and over Rs50 billion were needed annually for the maintenance of this system. He said the recurring maintenance expenditures of irrigation system necessitate a revisit of the Abiana rates in the province. Abiana was fixed at Rs135 per year per acre in 2002 and since then it has not been revised whereas the maintenance cost has gone up considerably.
He observed that over 40 per cent work on desilting of perennial canals has been completed and the rest will be completed by the end of January. He said in this phase would be followed by desilting in 304 non-perennial channels which would be completed by the end of April.