Water likely to be released into Machi Branch soon

PESHAWAR: The suffering of farmers in Malakand, Mardan, Swabi and Nowshera districts is likely to end soon as the government is set to release water into the Machi Branch of Upper Swat Canal in the coming few days, according to Secretary Irrigation Tahir Orakzai.

The farmers have been anxiously waiting for the restoration of water supply in the Machi branch of Upper Swat canal as the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government is constantly working to repair the affected breach in Kharki village.

Water supply was suspended to hundreds of thousands of acres of land from the Machi Branch of Upper Swat Canal to the four districts after a breach in the main canal June 18, 2021. It caused huge losses to standing crops, particularly the sugarcane, tobacco, maize and orchards and vegetables in these areas as there was no alternative source of water supply to these areas.

The farmers complained that lack of water and rise in temperature had multiplied their suffering and caused heavy damage to their crops.

The very next day of the incident, the provincial government mobilised all its resources for repairing the affected canal breach. Chief Minister Mahmood Khan and Chief Secretary Dr Kazim Niaz had taken personal interest and declared emergency to ensure earlier completion of the damaged portion of the main canal.

Other senior officials, particularly Secretary Irrigation Tahir Orakzai and Chief Engineer (North) Nasir Ghafoor Khan, along with staff members of their respective departments took keen interest and despite hot weather, they made several visits to the site and ensured quality of work.

Tahir Orakzai told The News that construction work had almost been completed and they planned to release water in the next few days.

He said they were aware of the woes of the farmers caused by suspension of the water and therefore they had to work on war-footing to provide water to them. Tahir Orakzai said they had given a 15-day deadline for completion of the affected canal, saying that they would release water within the given period.

“We will, Inshaa Allah, meet soon to release water as civil work is almost complete. The structure is perfect and went through testing as it had been built by the British rulers in 1913,” he said.

Tahir Orakzai said they were worried about whether the old structure would bear the burden of the new heavy structure but then they involved the University of Engineering Peshawar and Frontier Works Organisation (WFO) of 11th Corps for the strength analysis. He said they raised the other wall of the canal so there should be no damages later on.

Also, according to the secretary irrigation, they were lucky as their contractor was working on another project in the same area and was mobilised to the canal site. The entire project was completed by a Punjab-based company.