ISLAMABAD
A meeting of the executive committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) was held at the Prime Minister’s Office on Thursday with Finance Minister Senator Ishaq Dar in chair.
The ECNEC considered and approved Kurram Tangi Multipurpose Dam Stage-1 (Kaitu Weir Irrigation and Power) Project, located in North Waziristan Agency, at a reduced cost of Rs 12,662.60 million, including USAID grant in aid of Rs 9,975 million. The main objective of the project is to provide 76.15 cu-ft/sec assured irrigation water supply to bring 16,380 acres of land under cultivation in FATA and generate 18.9 MW electricity.
The minister said that since the location of the project was in FATA and it was necessary for socio-economic uplift of North Waziristan, therefore it should be put on fast track. Dar added that the project would also provide water for domestic use of 48,500 people.
ECNEC also considered and approved in principle the Revised PC-I of Sindh Water Sector Improvement Project Phase-I (WSIP-I) in the command area of Ghotki feeder, Nara, Fuleli and Akram Wah canals at a rationalized/reduced cost of Rs.30,353.00 million including IDA loan of Rs 28,840.4 million. The Sindh government will return IDA loan from their own resources and reflect it’s financing in their provincial ADP. The objective of the project is to improve the effectiveness and operational efficiency of water distribution by ensuring the safety of the canal system and delivering due share of water to the farmers at the tail end of the irrigation system.
Moreover, ECNEC also approved Revised PC-I of Gomal Zam Multipurpose Project at revised/rationalized cost of Rs 20,626 million which include USAID grant in aid of Rs 10,721.882 million. Main objective of the project is to harness water flow and conserve the perennial flow for providing assured irrigation water supply of 848 cusecs to irrigate 191,139 acres of land including 28,053 acres additional land which falls under the command of Waran Canal System and generate 17.4MW electricity.
ECNEC considered and approved Gomal Zam Command Area Development and On-Farm Water Management for High Value and High Efficiency Agriculture Project, located in DI Khan and Tank districts, at a rationalized cost of Rs.3.73 billion including USAID grant in aid of Rs.2.2 billion. The project is devised to develop the command area of Gomal Zam Dam through 848 cusecs of sustainable irrigation water supply which will bring 191,139 acres of land under cultivation. The completion date for project is fiscal year 2014-15.
The meeting was attended by Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Water and Power Minister Khawaja Asif, Information Minister Pervez Rashid, Science and Technology Minister Zahid Hamid, Minister of State for Information Technology Anusha Rehman and Adviser to Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah.
