Secretary Irrigation Punjab Irfan Elahi said Asian Development Bank (ADB) has approved an ADF (very soft) loan of $270 million for constructing new Khanki Barrage Project as a replacement for the 120 years old Khanki Headquarters and it plays a pivotal role in the irrigated agriculture of Punjab province which is the backbone of national economy.
He further said that the irrigation department of Punjab, being the custodian of the major hydraulic structures, has taken up rehabilitation and modernisation of barrages located in the province in phased programmes. On the basis of feasibility and detailed design studies, New Khanki barrage is proposed to be 900 ft downstream of existing headquarters for which a project costing Rs23,442 million was prepared and got approved from ECNEC in 2009.
Irfan Elahi added that project is designed using state of the art techniques and is being implemented through international contract following ADB guidelines. Civil works are scheduled to start in September 2012 and the completion period is five years. Implementation of the project will ensure sustainable irrigation supplies to the command area for the next 100 years and it will help in alleviating poverty and bringing prosperity to the abovementioned Districts Gujranwala, Hafizabad Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Faisalabad, Toba Tek Singh and Jhang. He told that after completion of headwork, more than three million acres of fertile land has been irrigated.
