The Punjab Provincial Development Working Party has approved another expenditure of Rs 1221 million for the on-going Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Program (PIAIP) with financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) since 2013. The programme envisages promoting economic growth and increase the sustainability of water and land resources through rehabilitating the century old irrigation infrastructure and improving the management of ground and surface resulting in 18 percent increase in water availability and 15 percent farm produce.
The approval was given in PDWP's 47th meeting of current fiscal year presided over by chairman P&D Muhammad Jahanzeb Khan and attended by Secretary, all Members of the P&D Secretaries, and other senior representatives of the relevant Departments Engineers of the Irrigation department told this scribe that the government had initiated the Punjab Irrigated Agriculture Investment Program (PIAIP) with financial assistance from Asian Development Bank (ADB) for a period of five years (2012-13 to 2016-17) with a total cost of Rs 36,000 million (government share of Rs 21,250 million, all IDA financing, and farmers' contribution of Rs 14,750 million). It has been extended for Rehabilitation and Upgrade of following barrages and distribution systems:
1. Suleimanki, Trimmu& Panjnad Barrages
2. Pakpattan Main Canal & Distribution system
3. Branches of Thal Canal & distribution system
4. Khanki barrage and distribution system over Chenab and Balloki Barrage and distribution system over river Ravi.
5. Rehabilitation and Upgrading R-Q, Q-B and B-S-Link Canal
6. Control of Water logging along Trimmu-Sidhnai Link Canal
7. Reclaiming Agriculture Land Affected by Water Logging in Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan Districts.
8. Detailed Design of Irrigation Development in Cholistan, adjacent to Tail area of Abbasia Canal.
The PIAIP envisages improvement of 5,500 unimproved watercourses, completion of lining on 1,500 already improved watercourses in canal commands, rehabilitation of 2,000 irrigation schemes outside the canal commands, provision of 3,000 LASER units to the farmers/service providers, and installation of high efficiency irrigation systems (HEISs) on 120,000 acres.
Agronomist said that rehabilitation of irrigated agriculture is of paramount importance for the economy of Punjab. Punjab's share in total agricultural production of the country is more than 80 percent in case of cotton, almost 70 percent for wheat, nearly 60 percent for sugarcane, and 50 percent in rice. Overall contribution of the province towards agriculture sector is estimated to be more than 80 percent and about 90 percent of it comes from irrigated areas. The irrigation efficiencies at the farm level are however; dismally low that is a major constraint in achieving potentially yields from otherwise highly productive agricultural lands.
The PDWP also approved Construction of underpass along RB Canal at Novelty Chowk, Faisalabad at the cost of Rs 658.749 million on Tuesday.