Shakai, a tehsil of South Waziristan Agency (SWA), will soon have the much-need water reservoir dam’ which will be constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 676.143 million, Pakistan Today has learnt reliably.
Shakai, with a population of around 70,000, is one of the most picturesque valleys, which is located some 33 km north of Wana, headquarter of the SWA. People from all over the region visit the beautiful hill resort especially on Eid festivals to immerse themselves in mountains covered with lush green trees, cold atmosphere, fresh air and most importantly, clouds on the roads hugging you full of happiness.
Shakai claim to fame was the famous agreement inked between Peshawar Corps Commander Lt Gen Safdar Hussain and Taliban commander Nek Muhammad on April 24, 2004, who was later droned to death in the first US drone strike inside Pakistan in 2004.
According to the documents exclusively available with Pakistan Today, the first ever large-scale development project in the area named ‘Shakai Dam’ will be completed soon with an estimated cost of Rs 676.143 million which will be funded by the federal government through the FATA Secretariat. The life span of the project is estimated to be 57 years.
South Waziristan Agency has a total area of 6,619 square kilometers with a population, according to the 1998 census, of 429,841 people, with no urban locality.
The project, with storage capacity of 1,193 AF of water, will irrigate 900 acres of agricultural land on the left bank of the main Shakai stream. Only 462 acres of land is currently under cultivation, which is mainly dependent on the rain, the documents revealed.
The dam will have a storage tank of about 0.096 million gallons to supply drinking water to 3,200 people, where no drinking water supply exists and people have to bring water from distant places. Inhabitants of the area have repeated demanded the provision of drinking water in the design of Shakai Dam.
The documents revealed that the construction of Shakai Dam will ensure the purposeful and effective use of the available water, which will help reduce the intensity of floods by storing water, besides irrigating agricultural land, facilitating socio-economic uplift of the area by alleviating poverty in the area.
The feasibility study for the scheme was carried out by M/S Techno-Consult International, in association with M/S Electra Consultants, Peshawar and EASE-Pak Consultants, Lahore, Pakistan.
According to the survey, an area of about 1,000 acres lies barren for want of irrigation water, so the area, if supplied with water for irrigation may produce crops sufficient to cater for the needs of the whole area.
The site proposed for the dam is the best one to utilise the flood water for irrigation purposes, the documents say.
The project will consist of the following components:
An Earth Core Rock Fill Dam, 32 meter high above the streambed with crest elevation of 2,082 m and top 8 project width of 10 m. The dam will contain a spillway for passing a maximum flood discharge of 934 cumec.
There would be an outlet structure for discharging stored supplies for irrigation purposes and a network of irrigation channels over the area to be irrigated. An access road, bridges and electrification facilities would also be constructed.
Hydrological studies show that mean annual inflow of 2.25 MCM (1827 AF) is available in the main Shakai stream to meet the irrigation water requirements of the command area of 364 hectares (900 acres).
The water from the reservoir will be supplied to command area through circular conduit of 600 mm diameter, which will be connected to an irrigation canal with a 0.198 cumec capacity.
CLIMATE:
The climate of the region comprises hot summers and very cold winters. In winter, temperatures go below freezing point in places of high altitude. The summer season starts in May and ends by September. June is generally the warmest month when the mean maximum temperature rises slightly over 30C. The winter starts in October and continues until April. December, January and February are the coldest months.
The geology of the area is quite favorable and suitable for the construction of earth core rock fill dam. Large volume of river bed is available at the project site to facilitate construction of an earth filled embankment.
The project will be constructed in an uninhabited area. Therefore, issues of population displacement and resettlement will not arise in the implementation of the project.
The project’s Initial Environment Examination (IEE) was conducted which shows that the construction phase impacts will be of temporary nature.
THE MAJOR CROPS:
Wheat, Maize, Onion, Tomato, Lady finger, Bottle gourd, Turnip, Carrot, Spinach, Raddish, Apricot, Watermelon, Muskmelon and Pulse (Moong) are some of the crops well adapted to the local environmental and the needs of the populace. Present annual cropping intensity is about 80% in which the share of Kharif and Rabi is only 20% and 60% respectively.
Most of the food grains are brought from other districts, but with the implementation of the project the food grains will also be available locally.
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