ISLAMABAD: Agricultural experts have requested the provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to reconsider the construction of hydropower projects on the irrigation canals, which are solely meant for irrigation purposes.
Among others, Khan Faraz, an expert, informed a selected group of journalists on Saturday that Shamozai Distributary of Machi Branch, Upper Swat Canal had been established form irrigating 7000 acres land of Tazagram, Qasami, Alo, Lakpani, Dheri, Shamozai, Matta villages of district Mardan. Main crops grown are sugarcane, wheat, maize, vegetables and orchards.
The distributary supplied irrigation water to the land of aforementioned villages of the area without any problem to the land owners for the last several decades.
A private hydropower plant has been established, opposite the Shamozai Distributary Head Regulator on Machi Branch of Upper Swat Canal, thereby considerably reducing water supply in the said distributary.
As a consequence, thereof the Rabi and Kharif crops production has been severely affected to the detriments of poor farmers of the area. Needless to mention that the canal system is meant for irrigation purpose and not for power generation. Also, agriculture is the sole source of livelihood for the farmers of the area.
He said that farmers in Charsadda and other districts vowed to resist the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organi-zation (PEDO) plan to construct hydropower projects on irrigation canals in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. According to the farmers, the proposed hydropower projects will destroy the irrigation system in the province thus inflicting heavy losses on the growers in the province.
It merits a mention that the farmers across the province had rejected the hydropower projects to be launched by PEDO and termed it an economic murder of the poor growers.
It may be added that about 22 percent of GDP is based on agriculture. While the best farming output was the result of canal systems that irrigate vast swaths of area across the province.
The materialization of such projects was detrimental to ruining the farming sector. Also, the projects in question were being initiated without consulting the Agriculture and Irrigation departments and the farmers who would be the ultimate sufferer if implemented, he added.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024
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