Ground-breaking ceremony for two small dams in Potohar region will be held after Eid-ul-Azha, while work on remodelling of barrages and other irrigation structures in the province is also expected to be launched soon.
This was stated by Punjab Minister for Irrigation Amer Sultan Cheema while addressing members of Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Friday.
The dams would be constructed at Lehri in Chakwal and Mial in Jhelum, he said, and expressed hope that these dams would help in improving irrigation water situation in the rain-fed districts of the province.
Regarding other irrigation projects, he said that a project for restructuring 5000 miles of canals would be executed at a cost of Rs 20.17 billion. Either method of geo-membrane lining or brick lining would be used in this regard to check water losses.
He said he was optimistic that the Parliamentary & Technical Committees on Water Resources would take decisions on construction of new water reservoirs keeping in view interests of the whole of the country.
Cheema said that telemetry system, developed by a foreign engineering company, would help remove the mistrust among provinces regarding water shares. He said that studies were also being conducted to assess the environmental impact on downstream Kotri region, Bahawalpur and certain areas of NWFP due to shortage of water.
It would help find out ways to replenish water shortage in Bahawalpur region due to drying up of the river Sutlej after 1960 Indus Basin Treaty.
On hydel power potential of Punjab canals, he said that 40 points in the province had been identified in the province for the development of hydel power stations on canals.
Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) President Anjum Nisar in his address of welcome said that Pakistan was facing acute shortage of water and energy resources.
"Our future preparedness and planning is being challenged on account of these two aspects. More unfortunate is the fact that a number of viable projects, like Kalabagh dam, are being jeopardised for internal political reason even when we know that our water channels are also under threat of our neighbouring country India," he added.
He said that the Punjab province, despite having one of the world's largest canal systems, is facing the threat of diminishing water resources and storage facilities resulting in low per hectare yield of produce, water-logging and salinity.
This has obviously turned agriculture into a non-profitable business, which in turn has resulted in migration of rural population to urban areas.
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