32,000 watercourses to be cemented, KP Assembly told

PESHAWAR: The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was told on Tuesday that a total of 32,000 watercourses would be cemented to improve the irrigation system for the 2.2 million acre irrigated land in the province.

Minister for Agriculture Mohibullah Khan in reply to a question informed the House that KP had a total land of 20.6 million acre out of which only 2.2 million acre land was cultivable while 3.2 million acre was barren. He said that 2 million acre land was rain-fed.

He said the department was trying to improve its water management system. “The government is working on small dams, land leveling, soil conservation along with improving irrigation management,” he added.

He said so far only 25,000 watercourses had been cemented, but now the number would be raised to 32,000 at a cost of Rs25 billion. The issue of allotment of official residences to government officers was once again raised in the Assembly.

Nighat Orakzai of Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) moved a privilege motion demanding referring it to the privilege committee. She said that the Administration Department had been providing wrong information to the House regarding allotment of official residences. She said some officers were allotted residences while others were waiting for decades to get one.