Water released into Machi Branch of upper Swat canal

PESHAWAR: Farmers of four districts, Malakand, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera, took a sigh of relief as the irrigation department on Friday released water into the Machi Branch of upper Swat canal.

The water supply to the four districts was suspended on June 18, 2021 due to breach in the upper Swat canal. It created unrest among the farmers as they were concerned about their cash crops, which were largely damaged after not getting water for two weeks.

Local MPA Malik Shaukat Khan, Secretary Irrigation Tahir Orakzai, Chief Engineer (north) Nasir Ghafoor and other officials of the irrigation department were present in Kharki village of Mardan district when the water was finally released in the canal.

The farmers were anxiously waiting for the restoration of the water supply in the canal. The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government constantly worked on repairing the affected breach that caused losses to standing crops, particularly the sugarcane, tobacco, maize, orchards and vegetables, as there was no alternative source of water supply to these areas.

Timely action of the provincial government and declaring emergency enabled the irrigation department to complete the repairing work in 12 days. The department had given two weeks of time for repairing and restoration of water in the canal.

Since Chief Minister Mahmood Khan is holding the portfolio of irrigation, his immediate action and then constant follow-up of Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz accelerated the repair work and presence of senior officials on the site to ensure quality of work.

One has to appreciate the efforts of Secretary Irrigation Tahir Orakzai and Chief Engineer (North) Nasir Ghafoor Khan along with staff members of their department as they continuously visited the site and keeping in mind losses of the farmers, they wanted to restore water supply as soon as possible. The bridge on the upper Swat canal for water supply was built by the British rulers in 1913.