20000414

Agri uplift project

nearing completion

in Balochistan

LAILA A ALI

QUETTA: An ambitious project aiming at agricultural development in an area of 612,000 acres by increasing annual cropped area from the existing 239,600 acres to 734,000 acres with main crops of rice, oilseeds, sugarcane, pulses and sorghum in Kharif while wheat, oilseeds, pulses and fodder in Rabi is nearing completion in Balochistan canal irrigated area of Nasirabad division at an estimated cost of Rs 8,500 million.

Official sources confirmed here on Thursday that the project would be irrigated and fed by the Pat Feeder canal from Guddu Barrage already flowing into Balochistan. Presently Pat Feeder canal carrying capacity has a discharge of 3,000 cusecs at its head. With the completion of the project, its discharge would be 8,200 cusecs.

Similarly Pat Feeder Annual withdrawal would be raised from 1.2 MAF to 2.959 MAF. Asian Development Bank (ADB) Japan International Co-operation Agency (JICA), Federal and Balochistan governments have contributed to the completion of this project at a cost of Rs 8,500 million. The project was initiated in 1988 at an estimated cost of Rs 3,067 million, but due to lukewarm attitude of the previous political governments to the project, certain constraints cropped up delaying its completion on schedule and escalated its cost of construction. Official sources confirmed that with the induction of the present non-political government, all these constraints were removed by Islamabad, resulting in its completion in near future.