Ecnec okays projects for rehabilitation, reconstruction of flood-affected areas

ISLAMABAD: The Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) on Tuesday approved projects worth billions of rupees for rehabilitation and reconstruction of flood-affected areas of the country.

Federal Minister for Finance and Revenue Senator Ishaq Dar chaired a meeting of the committee.

Ecnec considered and approved development projects, including rehabilitation and reconstruction of N-5 from Moro to Ranipur and damaged bridges under ADB Flood Emergency Loan at the total cost of Rs36.211 billion. Ninety percent of the funds will be provided by the Asian Development Bank, while the government’s share is 10 percent. The road consists of flood-damaged section of National Highway (N-5) from Ranipur to Moro, while the bridges are in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.

It okayed Rs3.828 billion Emergency Flood Assistance Project (EFAP) for on-farm water management in Balochistan, to be funded by the ADB and provincial government. The project will be implemented in flood-affected districts of Balochistan. The proposed project envisages restoration of flood damaged on-farm water management infrastructure for revival of agriculture production in the severely flood-affected districts of the province.

The committee approved Rs48.327 billion irrigation project under Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project (SFERP) (Irrigation Component), to be fully funded by the World Bank. The project is related to the issues of water conservation, protection of infrastructure from floods and institutional reforms in various districts of Sindh.

It also okayed Rs66 billion infrastructure, livelihoods and Rescue 1122 projects under the SFERP for restoration of roads, water supplies, rehabilitation of damaged drainage system, improvement of food security and sustainable livelihood and strengthening of institutional residence in various districts of Sindh province.

Ecnec gave a go-ahead to Rs15 bn emergency flood assistance project in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for reconstruction and rehabilitation of irrigation, drainage system and flood protection works to be funded by the KP government and ADB. The project is designed to rehabilitate the irrigation and flood protection system and put it back to operation for restoring agricultural productivity and protecting lives, infrastructure and properties in the flood-affected areas of the province.

It also approved Rs12.5 billion construction and rehabilitation of flood-affected irrigation infrastructure in Balochistan, to be funded by the the provincial government and ADB.

It okayed Rs70.445 billion Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT) project for 23 districts of Sindh province. The project envisages creating water and agriculture nexus, increased agriculture water productivity, rationalise water requirement by encouraging water thrifty crops, supporting farming community for crop after flood devastation, boosting up rural economy.

The Ecnec considered revised project for the construction of Authmuqam-Sharda-Kel-Taobat Road section (109.2 kilometer) including two tunnels at Kahori/ Kamser and Challpani section of Neelum Valley Road, Azad Jammu & Kashmir.

It approved the revised project at the reduced scope of construction of two tunnels at the revised rationalised cost of Rs90 billion, to be funded through Saudi Development Fund (SDF) and local share of Rs1.122 billion to be provided through the PSDP. The NHA will execute the tunnels scope on deposit work basis and hand it over to the AJ&K government after completion.

It considered and approved Improving Workforce Readiness in Punjab project at a total cost of Rs23.982 billion, including the government of Punjab’s share of Rs2.086 billion and ADB’s share of Rs21.896 billion. The project will be executed across Punjab.

The Ecnec also considered and approved a project on Strengthening Social Protection Delivery (SSPD) system in Sindh at a total cost of Rs48.300 billion with IDA share of Rs42 billion and Government of Sindh share of Rs6.3 billion. The project will be located in predominantly rural districts to strengthen SSPD systems and mother and child support programme.