Vol. 35, No. 4 Quarterly Newsletter October-December 2018

Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources

PCRWR NEWS

Patron in Chief

Dr. Muhammad Aslam Tahir

Editor

O eu rr u tW uat Fe r r Ou

Ms. Lubna Naheed Bukhari

INSIDE

Ÿ Sixth Meeting of the PCRWR Board of Governors

Ÿ Secretary MoST Visits PCRWR Headquarters Islamabad

Ÿ High Level Korean Delegation Visits PCRWR

Ÿ Delegation from US-PCASW Visits DRIP Tando Jam

Ÿ Field Trainings of Professionals of Punjab and Sindh Irrigation Departments

Ÿ Indus Telemetry-Delivering on National Water Policy

Ÿ Agricultural Water, Energy and Hazard Management for Improved Livelihoods in the Upper Indus Basin of Pakistan

Ÿ Mid Term Review Meeting of ACIAR Projects and Focus Group Discussions

Ÿ Proposal for Capacity Building of Professionals of Water Supply Agencies

Ÿ High Level Meeting at PCRWR Headquarters

Ÿ Quarterly Bottled Water Monitoring Report October-December, 2018

Ÿ Visits at Headquarters, Islamabad

PCRWR

Sixth BoG MeetingPage-2

Secretary MoST Visits PCRWRPage-3

2

The 6�� meeting of the Board of

Governors of PCRWR was convened on

November 7, 2018 at PCRWR Headquarters

Islamabad. The meeting was presided over by

Senator Muhammad Azam Khan Swati, Federal

Minister for Science and Technology. Ms.

Yasmin Masood Secretary Ministry of Science

and Technology (Vice President), Dr.

Muhammad Aslam Tahir, Chairman, PCRWR

(Member/Secretary) and following members

attended the meeting: Dr. Nawaz Ahmed, Sr.

Joint Secretary/Financial Adviser (S&T),

Ministry of Finance; Mr. Khizer Saleem

Khokhar, Deputy Secretary (Org) MoST on

behalf of Joint Secretary (Admn) MoST; Engr.

Ahmed Kamal, Chief Engineering

Adviser/Chairman, Federal Flood Commission

(FFC); Engr. Syed Muhammad Mujahid Saeed,

Chief Engineer (North), Irrigation Department,

Govt. of Khyber Pakthunkhwa; Dr. Muhammad

Iqbal Chohan, Director (Water Management),

on behalf of Malik Muhammad Akram,

Director General Agriculture; Mr. Ahsan Khan,

and Mr. Shah Jehan, Progressive Farmers; Mr.

Kabool Mohammad Khatian, Progressive

Farmer/ President, Sindh Chamber of

Agriculture; Mr. Muhammad Waseem Vohra,

Representative from Federation of Pakistan

Chamber of Commerce and Industries; and Mr.

Khalid Hussain Magsi, Member of National

Assembly.

The main Item (no.3) “Approval of

regularization of services of employees of

Provision of Safe Drinking Water (PSDW)

Project” was discussed. Dr. Muhammad Aslam

Tahir Chairman PCRWR gave a detailed

overview, describing objectives of the Project,

its progress, conversion of posts to non-

development side, meetings of PCRWR

Departmental Selection Committee and Board

(DSB), summary to Prime Minister Office, PM

Office response, precedents of identical court

cases and Law and Justice Division point of

view to the Standing Committee on S&T. It

was decided unanimously that all the

members will review the working paper

thoroughly and come up with some solution in

the next meeting, which will be held very soon

on this particular single point agenda.

The Board endorsed the progress and

approved minutes of its 5�� meeting. The Board

unanimously endorsed the sanctioned/

released development/non development

budget 2017-18, also sanctioned the

development/non-development budget 2018-

19, but showed concern over the zero research

budget. PCRWR was directed to send formal

request to MoST in this regard.

Sixth Meeting of the PCRWR Board of Governors

Sixth meeting of the Board of Governors of PCRWR convened on November 17, 2018

3

Ms. Yasmin Masud, Federal Secretary,

accompanied by Dr. Qaiser Majeed Malik,

Additional Secretary MoST, visited PCRWR

Headquarters on December 10, 2018.

Dr. Muhammad Aslam Tahir, Chairman

PCRWR, briefed the honourable guests about

the ongoing research and development

activities. The dignitaries also visited National

Capacity Building Institute for Water Quality

Management (NCBI-WQM) and National

Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) of PCRWR.

Secretary MoST appreciated and showed

keen interest in PCRWR's plan to start

diploma in water quality management in near

future. PCRWR has started its efforts in this

regard.

Secretary MoST Visits PCRWR Headquarters Islamabad

A high level delegation from the Office

of Government Policy Coordination,

underneath the Prime Minister Office Republic

of Korea visited PCRWR Headquarters

Islamabad on December 19, 2018 to monitor

the project outcomes implemented by KOICA in

Pakistan. PCRWR has established National

Capacity Building Institute for Water Quality

Management (NCBI-WQM) with the

collaboration of KOICA. The delegation held a

meeting with Dr. Muhammad Aslam Tahir

Chairman PCRWR and visited the NCBI building.

Earlier, a team from KOICA led by Mr.

Chung Jong Hyok, Country Director along with

Mr. Abdul Rehman Khan representative KOICA

Pakistan visited NCBI on December 5, 2018

and held a meeting with Dr. Manzoor A. Malik

(Project Director) and Ms. Lubna Bukhari

(Director NCBI), regarding the monitoring of

project and provision of post project grant.

High Level Korean Delegation Visits PCRWR

The Korean delegations at PCRWR Headquarters Islamabad

Federal Secretary along with Additional Secretary MoST visited PCRWR Headquarters Islamabad

4

Delegates from Colorado State University, Utah University USA and US-PCASW at DRIP Campus Tanadojam

Field training on ADCP for SID (L) a group photo of participants of training from PID (R)

A high level delegation comprising

Professor Dr. Timothy Gates, Professor Dr.

Allan Andeales, Colorado State University

(CSU) and Professor Dr. Jeff Ullman, University

of Utah USA, along with Professor Dr. Altaf Ali

Siyal, Professor Dr. Muhammad Munir Babar,

Professor Dr. Abdul Latif Qurashi and Professor

Dr. Kamran Ahmad Ansari, US-Pakistan Centre

for Advance Studies in Water (PCASW),

Mehran University of Engineering and

Technology (MUET) Jamshoro visited DRIP

Campus Tando Jam on December 18, 2018.

The professionals of DRIP Tando Jam

welcomed and briefed the delegation about

Lysimeter Station and other R&D activities of

DRIP Campus Tando Jam.

Delegation from US-PCASW Visits DRIP Tando Jam

PCRWR in collaboration with

International Water Management Institute

(IWMI) conducted two short field trainings on

“Modern methods of flow measurement using

ADCP (Acoustic Dopler Current Propeller)

instrument for the professionals of Sindh

Irrigation Department (SID) at Sukkur on

October 9-10, 2018 and Punjab Irrigation

Department (PID) at Lahore on October 25-26,

2018. The ADCP equipment was provided under

the project “Strategic strengthening of flood

early warning and management capacity of

Pakistan” executed with the financial support of

UNESCO. The project led to build flood risk

management capacity of Pakistan and

installation and development of Integrated

Flood Analysis System (IFAS) Model for Indus

Eastern Rivers (Ravi, Sutlej, Jehlum and Chenab).

Field Trainings of Professionals of Punjab and Sindh Irrigation Departments

4

5

Mr. Ahmad Kamal, Chairman Federal Flood Commission speaking on the occasion

The project interventions for the Upper Indus Basin communities

PCRWR in collaboration with

International Water Management Institute

(IWMI) organized a dialogue workshop on “Indus

Telemetry-Delivering on National Water Policy”.

PCRWR and IWMI are jointly undertaking a

project for the monitoring of four main canals

(Pat Feeder, Kirther, Lower Bari, and Upper Swat)

in four provinces of Pakistan through GSM

(Global System for Mobile Communication)

based telemetry system. The event was attended

by members of Indus River System Authority

(IRSA), representatives from Federal Flood

Commission, Federal Water Management Cell

and think tank organizations based in Islamabad.

Indus Telemetry- Delivering on National Water Policy

The project was designed to improve

livelihoods of UIB (Upper Indus Basin)

communities through enhancing local capacity in

understanding, managing and demonstrating

state of the art climate smart water, energy and

hazard management technological options at the

pilot sites. PCRWR implemented the project in

collaboration with partner organizations; World

Wide Fund for Nature (WWF), Karakoram

International University (KIU) and Mountain Area

Research Centre (MARC). Whereas PCRWR

executed climate smart, cost effective and energy

efficient water management interventions to

promote high value agriculture at project sites.

Major activities of the project were: water

pumping at community level; installation of

micro drip irrigation systems; and provision of

sustainable water supply solutions. Last activity

of the project was completed on October 20,

2018 in which a headwater structure was

completed with the help of community, to route

glacial stream water to Zarabad.

Agricultural Water, Energy and Hazard Management for Improved

Livelihoods in the Upper Indus Basin of Pakistan

6

Participants of focus groups discussion (L) and mid-term review meeting of ACIAR projects

PCRWR participated in mid-term review

meeting of the ACIAR Projects in Faisalabad

during November 21-23, 2018 organized by

Australian Centre for International Agricultural

Research (ACIAR) involving two external

reviewers. All partners, University of Canberra

(UC), PCRWR, Social Science Research Institute

(SSRI) and Society of Facilitators and Trainers

(SOFT) participated in the meeting and

performed following activities: Projects’

presentations by all partners; presentation of

posters highlighting projects’ strategies and

activities and documentaries on farmers

interviews; panel discussions conducted by

reviewers with farmers and facilitators; and

combined field visits of ACIAR projects’ teams

and reviewers to 107 NB and 88 SB villages of

Sargodha District.

The ACIAR projects’ lead, Dr Sandra

Heaney Mustafa along with PCRWR team also

conducted focus group discussions with

farmers in villages (86 DB, 104 DB, 8 DRB, 80

DRB, Basti Wazir Lang) of District Bahawalpur

from 29-30 November, 2018, in villages (Jaam

Samoo, Moosa Khatian, Taj Muhammad

Laghari, Haji Khan Khaskheli, Chukhi) of

District Tando Allahyar from December 1-4,

2018 and in villages (Misri Khoso, Maari

Jalbani, Muhammad Moosa Khaskheli) of

District Nawabsha on December 5, 2018.

During the visit, farmers discussed about

various activities which they were performing

with the help of projects’ field teams. Farmers

also shared their experiences of improvement

in water and nutrient management through

engagement in the projects’ activities.

Mid Term Review Meeting of ACIAR Projects and Focus Group Discussions

A delegation from KOICA led by Mr. Jun

Ho Choi, Deputy Country Director along with

officials of Ministry of Climate Change led by Dr.

Saima Shafique visited PCRWR Headquarters

Islamabad and held a meeting with Dr. Muhammad

Aslam Tahir, Chairman PCRWR. The delegates

discussed prospects of a project Strengthening of

National Level Water Sanitation and Hygiene

(WASH) Centre to be established with the

collaboration of KOICA and M/o Climate Change.

Proposal for Capacity Building of Professionals of Water Supply Agencies

Delegates from KOICA and Ministry of Climate Change in a meeting with Chairman PCRWR

7

The members of committee at PCRWR Headquarters, Islamabad

Senator Muhammad Azam Khan Swati

the honorable Federal Minister for Science

and Technology constituted a high level

committee to evaluate the existing potential

to revive the organizations under Ministry of

Science and Technology. In this regard a

meeting was convened at PCRWR

Headquarters Islamabad on December 18,

2018. The honorable members of the

committee i.e. Dr. Athar Osama, Member S&T,

Planning Commission and Mr. Tahir Naeem,

Director Planning and HRD, COMSATS,

attended the meeting. Dr. Muhammad Aslam

Tahir, Chairman PCRWR gave detailed

presentation on R&D activities and

achievements and existing potential of the

Council. The shortage of staff and other bottle

necks faced by PCRWR were also discussed

during the meeting.

The honourable guests also visited

National Water Quality Laboratory (NWQL) of

the Council.

High Level Meeting at PCRWR Headquarters

In pursuance of the Cabinet's Decision,

Ministry of Science and Technology has

assigned PCRWR, the task to carry out

quarterly monitoring of bottled/mineral water

brands of the country and publicize the results.

For the quarter from October to

December 2018, 78 samples of bottled water

brands were collected from Islamabad,

Karachi, Multan, Lahore, Bahawalpur,

Tandojam and Quetta. The samples were

analyzed at National Water Quality Laboratory

(NWQL), according to Pakistan Standards and

Quality Control Authority's (PSQCA) Standards.

Out of 78 bottled water brands, 6 brands were

found unsafe due to microbiological and

chemical contamination. The microbiologicaly

contaminated water can cause cholera,

diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis, typhoid etc. Out

of 6 unsafe brands, 3 brands had comparatively

high levels of sodium ranging from 78-82 ppm

exceeding than PSQCA bottled water standard

for sodium, which is 50 ppm.

Quarterly Bottled Water Monitoring Report October-December, 2018

8

Dr. Zaidi in a meeting with Chairman PCRWRMalik Aamir Dogar with Chairman PCRWR

Malik Aamir Doger, MNA visited

PCRWR Headquarters on December 20, 2018

and held a meeting with Dr. Muhammad Aslam

Tahir, Chairman, PCRWR. The honorable guest

visited National Water Quality Laboratory and

National Capacity Building Institute for

Water Quality Management (NCBI-WQM). He

appreciated the R&D work of PCRWR.

Dr. S. M. Junaid Zaidi, Executive Director

COMSATS visited PCRWR Headquarters on

December 24, 2018 and held a meeting with

Chairman, PCRWR. The honorable guest also

visited National Capacity Building Institute for

Water Quality Management (NCBI-WQM) and

gave proposal to start capacity building

programs for COMSATS member countries.

Malik Aamir Doger, MNA

Visits PCRWR

Executive Director COMSATS

Visits PCRWR

Pir Fazal Shah MNA with Chairman PCRWRGOC Sargodha visiting NWQL of PCRWR

Maj. Gen. Irfan Arshad, GOC Sargodha

visited PCRWR Headquarters on October 22,

2018 and held a meeting with Dr. Muhammad

Aslam Tahir, Chairman PCRWR. The honorable

guest visited National Water Quality

Laboratory (NWQL) and National Capacity

Building Institute for Water Quality

Management (NCBI-MQM). He showed keen

interest in technologies developed by PCRWR.

Pir Fazal Shah, MNA visited PCRWR

Headquarters on December 26, 2018. The

honorable guest held a meeting with Chairman

PCRWR and also visited National Water Quality

Laboratory and National Capacity Building

Institute for Water Quality Management (NCBI-

MQM). He showed keen interest in the research

work being conducted by PCRWR in the fields of

water quantity and quality management.

Maj. Gen. Irfan Arshad Visits PCRWR Pir Fazal Shah, MNA Visits PCRWR

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