The World Bank would lend about 1.205 billion dollars to Pakistan for nine water projects in next four years.
THE PROJECTS INCLUDE: Punjab irrigation policy loan ($400 million); Punjab municipal services improvement loan ($65 million); Sindh water/irrigation sector improvement programme ($140 million); NWFP irrigation sector improvement programme ($70 million); Punjab water infrastructure investment ($150 million); Balochistan small-scale irrigation ($40 million); Punjab water sector irrigation investment ($100 million); and federal water resources capacity building loan ($40 million).
These projects were identified in the World Bank''s report captioned, "Pakistan Country Water Resources Assistance Strategy".
An important objective of this report is to help define water requirements of the country (known as the Country Assistance Strategy), which will govern relationships between the World Bank and Pakistan for the period 2006-2010.
Federal and provincial governments and management of the World Bank have agreed that water management is one of the central development challenges facing Pakistan and that investment in this sector must be increased substantially, which was 0.5 percent of GDP during 2003.
The federal government''s allocation for water in the Public Sector Development Programme jumped from Rs 20 billion in FY2005 to over Rs 35 billion in FY2006, representing an increase of 75 percent.
The bank assistance would support four pillars of the water sector, including assistance in development and management, water resources management, service delivery and on-farm productivity.
There is an agreement that there will be a major increase in the bank''s lending for water-related activities. This would mean water-related lending for Pakistan would increased about ten fold from 2000-04 period, and account for about $1 billion in the coming four years. The tentative lending programme for these years would be as follows:
PUNJAB IRRIGATION POLICY LOAN: This three to four years programme would support in reforming Punjab''s irrigation sector, built on four pillars; asset development and management; water resource management (including investment in capacity building, knowledge generation and management, and pilot projects for groundwater management); reform of irrigation service delivery; and enhanced on-farm services to increase water productivity.
The policy framework could include a medium-term 10-year vision of how Punjab wishes to change its management of water resources and irrigation services.
PUNJAB MUNICIPAL SERVICES IMPROVEMENT LOAN: This loan is designed to improve efficiency, coverage and quality of basic infrastructure/services through developing an efficient mechanism for allocating public resources for infrastructure; building capacity of the government to manage local government performance, improvement of city districts/TMAs for improved urban management, governance and delivery of urban services; and providing performance-related matching grants for infrastructure repair/renewal. It is likely that water and sewerage services would be part of this.
SINDH WATER/IRRIGATION SECTOR IMPROVEMENT PROGRAMME: The project would improve water productivity through a reform agenda/investment leading to better management system that links canal command areas, the distributary and the watercourse level. Components include, capacity building; civil works; agriculture and irrigation technology; and management and administration.
NWFP-IRRIGATION SECTOR IMPROVEMENT PROGRAM: The project would improve water productivity through a reform agenda/investment leading to better management system that links canal command areas, the distributary and the watercourse level. Components include, capacity building; civil works; agriculture and irrigation technology; and management and administration.
PRIVATE POWER (BANK GROUP) INVESTMENT: In view of the projected shortfall in generating capacity (from about 2007-08), there is an urgent need to elicit private sector resources for new/green field generation projects.
PUNJAB WATER INFRASTRUCTURE INVESTMENT: Several barrages in Punjab require rehabilitation and modernisation to address problems arising from deficiencies, which could lead to progressive structural failure and serious economic consequences. Besides physical rehabilitation, improvements and modernisation, the project will also support institutional and organisational restructuring and capacity building, and improved O&M regimes.
BALOCHISTAN SMALL-SCALE IRRIGATION: The project would develop water resources through restoring and increasing water storage; increasing productivity of water through more efficient use, and developing capacity to formulate a water resource development plan using surface, groundwater and watershed management.
Components include, water management (with special emphasis on groundwater); infrastructure for restoring hydrological balance of Band Khushdad Khan; construction of delay action dams and selected small-scale irrigation projects; on-farm water management; modernisation of irrigation systems and subsidies for efficient on-farm irrigation systems and modern irrigation technologies; and institutional development among farmers, water users and different levels of government.
PUNJAB WATER SECTOR IRRIGATION INVESTMENT: The project would support institutional reforms in water resource management and delivery of irrigation services in specific canal commands of Punjab through an "incentive-based approach".
Farmers and farmer organisations will play a major role and would compete for a set of "rewards" for meeting specified "entry conditions". The "entry conditions" would relate to items like formation of farmer organisation, commitment to implementing water entitlements, provider/user contracts, water measurement and monitoring.
The "rewards" would be investment in capacity building, canal modernisation, measurement devices, and on-farm services and possibly an option in which farmers could choose "professional management".
FEDERAL WATER RESOURCES CAPACITY BUILDING LOAN: This project would develop the capacity of the federal government (including the proposed National Water Council and its secretariat, Irsa, planning commissions, water resources section, and Wapda-water wing) to become more effective custodian of the nation''s water resources.
It will include major investments in knowledge management (including modernisation of measuring equipment, decision support systems, and priority-applied research); it will include training of a new generation of multi-disciplinary water resources specialists; and will include stimulation of centres of excellence for water resources sciences.
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