'Rs 150 billion NDP to help improve irrigation system'

The government has launched a National Drainage Programme (NDP) for improvement in the field of drainage and reclamation of water-logged and saline land in the Indus basin. The first phase of programme, commenced by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and Japan Bank for International Co-operation (JBIC), is scheduled to be implemented in a period of six and half years at a cost of $785 million (Rs 31 billion).
According to official sources on Tuesday the donors have agreed to provide $525 million (Rs 21 billion) as a soft credit with a 35 years repayment period, adding, National Drainage Programme (NDP) as originally conceived is a 25 years investment plan with a total cost of $2.5 billion (Rs 150 billion).
The project is expected to contribute enormously towards enhancing crop production as a result of reduction in waterlogging and salinity and through better operation and maintenance of Pakistan's irrigation and drainage network.
Programme is designed to restore environmentally sustainable irrigated agriculture through three broad interventions to minimise saline drainable surplus and facilitate the eventual evacuation of saline effluent from the Indus Basin to the Arabian Sea.
The programme will also be helpful to improve the operational efficiency of the provincial irrigation departments through institutional reforms and through the provincial irrigation and drainage authorities, Area Water Boards, (AWBs) and farmers organisations (FOS). Benefits from the project are expected to accrue from increased agricultural production through surface drainage improvement/extension in an area of about 9 million acres.
In addition, he said, rehabilitation of existing sub surface drainage systems and new tile drains will improve drainage in an area of about 2 million acres.
The physical targets and drainage works to be carried out in the four provinces under the NDP and major projects identified in the original scope of work include left bank outfall drain (LBOD), remaining works of right bank outfall drain (RBOD), DGK Integrated Drainage and Irrigation Project.
Muzaffargarh Drainage Project Scarp-VI Evaporation Ponds, Drainage-IV (Phase-III), Deg Nullah, Kafur Dheri, Lasbela Drainage, etc and O&M through Performance Contracts (8,700 Kms of drains) in all the four provinces.