PIDAPUNJAB IRRIGATION AND DRAINAGE AUTHORITY

The Minister for IrrigationPunjab / Chairman PIDAMian Yawar Zaman has

said that equitable, efficient andsustained canal water cannot beensured without controlling themenace of water theft. For thispurpose, field arteries of PIDAhave been mobilized to workmore efficiently at the grassroots and Farmer Organizations(FOs) be sensitized to play theirrole in this regard.

He stated this in a departmentalmeeting in his office where alarge number of irrigationengineers including the GeneralManager (TM) Afzal Anjum Toor,General Manager (OP) MianAbdul Rashid and DeputyGeneral Manager (SM) SyedShaiq Hussain Abidi were

present.

During the meeting, the ministerdirected that the farmingcommunity should be educatedto act as socially responsibleorgan of the society. They shouldalso be sensitized to avoid the

stealing of water from waterchannels so that the end usersmay not be affected. Besidesother things, the FarmerOrganizations should be advisedto enhance their patrollingactivity on canals and theyshould also rectify the temperedoutlets in their areas.

The irrigation minister in hisaddress told that PunjabGovernment is determined torehabilitate the whole irrigationinfrastructure so that watersupply upto tail ends could befully ensured. He directed theofficers to facilitate the FOs inthe performance of their officialduties and hoped that it wouldexcel the process of irrigationsector reforms.

The Managing Director PIDA,Capt. (R) Saif Anjum has saidthat latest technology will beutilized to modernize theirrigation system and theserv ices of i nternat iona ldevelopment agencies also havebeen sought in this regard.

He was presiding a meeting inthe committee room of irrigationd e p a r t m e n t w i t h t h erepresentatives of InternationalWater Management Institute(IWMI), Lahore. The AdditionalSecretary (Technical) KhalidHussain Qureshi, Chief Engineer(Lahore Zone) Muhabbat Khan,Chief Engineer (Barrages)Mehmood ul Hasan Shah, Head(PMO-PISIP) Ahmad ul HaqUsmani, Chief (PMIU) HabibUllah Bodla, General Manger(TM) Afzal Anjum Toor, GeneralManager (OP) Mian Abdul

Rasheed, Deputy GeneralManager (SM/T) Shaiq HussainAbidi, Director (SEMU) Dr.Muhammad Javed, Head IWMIPakistan Dr. Arif Anwar, IrrigationResearcher Muhammad AzimShah were present in themeeting.

The representatives of IWMIbriefed MD PIDA about theiractivities in the Area WaterBoard of Bahawalnagar includingthe proposals regarding theimprovements in dischargemeasurement.

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The Managing Director whileaddressing in the meeting saidthat canals d ischarge ismeasured on daily basis andupdated on website however,latest technology for accuratedischarge measurement underthe initiative of Decision SupportSystem. He said that thetechnology proposed by IWMIf o r a c c u r a t e d i s c h a r g emeasurement will help improvethe irrigation service delivery. Heappreciated the installation ofmodern sensors on distributarycanals in Bahawalnagar. He saidthat arrangements to improvemutual coordination among thestaff of Irrigation Departmentand FOs are being done to makethe irrigation sector reforms asuccess.

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The General Manager (TM) AfzalAnjum Toor v is i t ed TheD irectora te o f Soc ia l &Environmental ManagementUnit (SEMU) to observe theprogress on different activitiesre lated to environmenta lmanagement in irrigation sector.The D i r ec to r SEMU Dr.Muhammad Javed briefed himabout performance and theupcoming events. Both theDeputy Directors of SEMU werealso present.

T h e G e n e r a l M a n a g e rappreciated the services ofSEMU for the betterment ofenvironment and the awarenessra is ing mater ia l for the

stakeholders. He advised in themeeting to disseminate the

guidel ines and checkl istsprepared by SEMU among all theconcerned quarters. He alsourged the staff to extend all outtechnical assistance to irrigatione n g i n e e r s d u r i n g t h eimplementation of constructionprojects.

The Minister for IrrigationPunjab Mian Yawar Zamanhas said that the factors of

transparency and answerabilityin financial affairs of FarmerOrganizations will help inensuring austerity. He furtheradded that new mega projectsfor the revitalization of irrigationinfrastructure have also beenapproved.

He stated this during adiscussion in his office with thesix member delegation of FOsheaded by Rana IftekharAhmad. PIDA's senior officerswere also present on theoccasion.

The minister dur ing thediscussion, informed that thirdparty monitoring of repair &maintenance works done by FOshas been arranged to ensuretransparency and avoid thewastage of resources. He toldthe farmers that Punjab

Government has started therehab i l i t a t i on work s onSu l emank i B a r rage andPakpattan Canal while tomodernize the Jalal Pur canal,the Asian Development Bank hasexpressed its cooperation fort e c hn i c a l a nd f i n anc i a lassistance. He further informedthat the special funds are beingprovided for the betterment ofcanals in southern Punjab.

The irrigation minister MianYawar Zaman said that theparticipation of farmers in canalmanagement is the practicalmodel of canal public privatepartnership. He said that farmerorganizations are working onfive canal commands in Punjabwhich is an example ofgovernmental trust of farmingcommunity.

separate guidelines for irrigation engineers, farmer organizationsand contractors which are very helpful to make the projectsenvironment friendly, he added. The irrigation engineers are alsoprovided checklists which enable them to examine the projectworks in line with them.

The minister for Irrigation MianYawar Zaman has said that theirrigation sector developmentprojects are designed accordingto the prescribed standard ofenvironmental management.

It was stated by him in his officeduring a meeting with thedelegation of environmentalsector NGOs headed by theChairman Pehchan FoundationMalik Ehsan Qadir. Besides manyothers, the GM (TM) Afzal AnjumToor, DGM (SM) Shaiq HussainAbdi and Director SEMU Dr.Muhammad Javed.

The minister informed thedelegation that only thoseirrigation sector projects areaccorded approval which areenvironmentally examined andcovered. PIDA has developed

The Managing Director PIDA Capt. (R) Saif Anjum hasapproved a training plan for the capacity building ofirrigation engineers to control the trend of growing water

theft. He has assigned the General Manager (TM) Afzal Anjum Toorto deliver lecture in the training workshops.

As per training plan, one day workshops have been organized in allcanal zones in which the Executive Engineers and Sub DivisionalCanal Officers participated.

During the workshops, the General Manager PIDA urged the participants that complete knowledge ofwater laws was mandatory to control water theft. He apprised the participants about the powersdelegated to canal officers in Section 70 of Canal & Drainage Act 1873. He explained that waterstealers may be imprisoned up to one year along with a fine fifty thousands rupees. He also apprisedthe irrigation engineers about the time to time amendments in Canal & Drainage Act 1873. The GMPIDA distributed awareness raising material which has been prepared in the light of the personalexperiences of senior engineers. The answers with practical solutions were also given to theparticipants in response to their questions.

It is pertinent to mention here that the series of training workshops for field engineers have beenhighly eulogized by the stakeholders.

PIDA H/Qs, IRRIGATION SECRETARIAT, OLD ANARKALI, LAHOREPH: 99212771, 99212772, 99212773 FAX: 99212774

E-Mail:pida_hq@yahoo.comURL: http://pida.punjab.gov.pk