Staff Reporter Lahore
In a bid to utilize water resources in an efficient manner, the Punjab government on Sunday signed an agreement to build small and intermediate dams in the province.
The memorandum of understanding was signed between the provincial Irrigation ministry and NESPAK in a ceremony, which was also attended by Chief Minister Usman Buzdar.
Under the MoU, a feasibility study would be carried out using modern drone technique for the construction of small and intermediate dams at 13 hill torrents.
Shedding light on the project, Usman Buzdar said that the pilot project for the construction of the reservoirs would begin in June this year.
“The water reservoirs will help in providing water to 200,000 acres of land, besides also minimizing the impact and losses from floods,” he said.
It is pertinent to mention here that other than Punjab province, small and big dams have been planned and established in other parts of the country also to ensure better utilization of water resources.
Meanwhile, addressing a gathering at Sakhi Sarwar in Dera Ghazi Khan on Sunday, Punjab Chief Minister Sardar Usman Buzdar said water of thirteen hill torrents of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts will be preserved through construction of small dams in the area. He said one point two billion rupees would be spent on feasibility report of these mini dams.
The Chief Minister said one dam will be constructed by June this year while overall four dams will be constructed in the first phase. According to a report, in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 25 small dams have been completed in different areas to store flood and rainwater during monsoon for irrigation and drinking purposes in July 2019. The nine dams, including Gandyaley, Chanday Fatehay Khan and Auxilliary Kandar dams in Kohat, Azakhel in Peshawar, Naryab in Hangu, Sharki and Changhoz dam in Karak, Darganatu in Bannu and Jalozai dam in Nowshera have been completed under the annual development program during 2002 to 2019.
Similarly, nine water reservoirs inlcuding Lawaghar, Karak, Ghole Banda and Mardankhel dams in Karak, Khari Bara in Haripur, Jabba Khattak in Nowshera, Palai in Charsadda.
