Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Pervez Khattak has approved three mega projects in irrigation and agriculture department in the backward southern districts of the province under KP Southern’s Areas Development Programme (KP-SADP).
The programme is being launched in 3 districts of Lakki Marwat, Tank and D.I.Khan under the foreign assistance scheme that amounts to Rs.2304.059 million. The chief minister has asked for early execution of these vital programmes besides ensuring no compromise on the quality.
The project would irrigate additional 59,082 acres of land. Besides bringing vast barren land under cultivation under the Rodkohi and lift irrigation systems, tens of hundreds of villages and scattered houses would also be protected from devastation of floods and erosions.
Pervez Khattak while chairing a meeting at CM Secretariat Peshawar in this regard also directed for environmental improvement. He also aimed at creating maximum jobs for the local youth during and after the completion of the programme.
The meeting was attended by concerning MPAs, divisional and districts authorities and administrative secretaries of concerned departments.
The Chief Minister expressed confidence that the programme would greatly contribute in boosting agricultural produce, protecting precious farm lands from erosions and safeguarding the human lives, cattle and properties in surrounding villages from floods during the torrential rains. He hoped that jobs in agriculture sector would be increased upon executing such crucial schemes and socio-economic condition of the people, especially the farmers’ community, would be improved drastically.
He explained that unemployment and backwardness were the root causes of unrest and militancy in the province and henceforth, accelerating work on various projects in agriculture, forestry and commerce departments would greatly help in eliminating the curse of militancy and violent trends among youth.
CM Khattak said that providing extra opportunities to the remote villagers of southern districts in agriculture, livestock, forestry and other sectors would diversify their sources of livelihood and their standard of life would also be elevated considerably.
The chief minister was told that the programme involved three mega schemes of irrigation and agriculture wherein World Bank had provided Rs250 million against the provincial government request of Rs.260million.
The programme besides other dividends in agriculture sector would also provide jobs to 325,000 educated youth to prove their talent in such productive sector. It was decided in the meeting that the programme would be launched soon after the forthcoming monsoon season to avoid damages to the constructions and development works in Rodkohi and lift irrigation sectors.
Government is of the view that these projects would be completed by May next year within a short span of eight months.
