Sindh govt to launch WB-funded project for irrigation, farm sector reforms

HYDERABAD: World Bank’s (WB) regional director John Roome has said the Sindh government with the WB’s help is going to launch a project to bring reforms in the irrigation and agriculture sectors in order to get maximum output and boost rural economy.

Irrigation reforms were essential for improving Pakistan’s economy and irrigation system in order to earn foreign exchange, he said during a visit to Kotri Barrage and its off-taking canal Akram Wah, and a meeting with the officials of the irrigation department, said a press release issued the other day.

He was accompanied by a delegation of WB officers, including operation manager Gailius Draugelis, expert of water resource management Francois Onimus, external affairs officer Mariam Altaf, and programme associate and mission coordinator Aslam Malik.

He disclosed that the Sindh government was launching the project in the name of the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT). Pakistan’s agriculture and irrigation sectors needed improvement so that water availability for agriculture sector could be ensured efficiently and timely, he said.

He added that the step would lead to better yield in crops and it would be exportable as well to earn foreign exchange. He said that climate change was making all-important that climate smart agriculture should be ensured.

He said that farmers would have to grow crops that could sustain climate change driven weather patterns instead of conventional crops’ cultivation. He disclosed that Akram Wah would be rehabilitated under the WB funded SWAT.

Under that rehabilitation programme, he said, the faults of Akram Wah would be rectified so that its capacity to draw more water could be enhanced.

Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) Managing Director Pritam Das informed the visiting WB official that the rehabilitation programme was a big challenge because that canal was a perennial channel of Kotri Barrage.

He said that works would have to be executed without stopping canal’s flows and added that very limited time would be available for the execution of works.

He said that the canal’s module would have to be examined in laboratory for designs-related issues under supervision of experts. He said that only then those works would be executed and water would be made available up to tail-end reaches.

Those development works would remove all technical faults in the canal eventually, he added.

He said that it would increase water carrying capacity of the canal and seepage would be overcome and its positive impacts would be seen in Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan and Badin districts’ agriculture sector.

Project Monitoring Unit (PMU) project coordinator Mohammad Ehsan Leghari informed the meeting that SWAT aimed at connecting the irrigation and agriculture sectors closely in order to get maximum output and boost rural economy.

He said SWAT also sought improvement in efficiency of water management to ensure growth in the agriculture sector besides collecting and releasing water flows statistics through hydro information system.

Earlier, Kotri Barrage chief engineer Haji Khan Jamali briefed the delegation about operations of the barrage and its four off-taking canals. He also shed light on Indus Delta’s issues.

The delegation also visited Gaja Wah and head regulators of Bulri distributary near Tando Mohammad Khan and met farmers organisation of the distributary.

FO chairman Kazim Raza Talpur talked about seepage issue in the distributary which was causing water losses and damaging farmlands. He called for lining of Bulri distributary to save water.

Sida general manager Ghulam Mustafa Ujjan said Bulri distributary’s FO was an active body which was having 60pc ratio of revenue recovery.