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Special
Reports/Water Crisis |
Mirani Dam: farmers need incentive
By Syed Fazl-e-Haider
 THE
Mirani Dam has been constructed at a cost of Rs5.861 billion
on theRiver Dasht, 43 km south-west of Turbat city in Makran,
for irrigationpurposes.
The 127-ft-high, 3,350-ft-long, earth-filled dam has created
areservoir extending to about 10 miles upstream. It has a
designedcapacity of 377 cusecs, and can provide irrigation
water on both sidesof the River Dasht, which mostly depends
on rains, averaging 4.2 inchesannually, in the upper
catchments area.
The River Dasht is a non-perennial stream and its flow
depends entirelyon rainfall in the catchments area which
extends over 7,964 squaremiles of barren hilly terrain. The
average annual runoff from thecatchments has been estimated
at 226,000 acre feet.
“The dam is ready and irrigation supplies are available”,
said GhulamSarwar, chief engineer of the Balochistan
Irrigation and PowerDepartment, in Quetta. He said, “Wapda
is maintaining the dam projectthrough its contractor and
designer Dascon firm, which is operating andmonitoring the
dam”.
“At present, hardly 500 acres out of 33,200 acres are under
cultivationin the command area. Benefits of the project will
gradually reach thelocal people and in five to 10 years they
will be able to start farmingand developing irrigated
agriculture in the area,” said Mr Sarwar. “Thecommand area
will not see the development of irrigated agriculture solong
the big land owners of the area do not come forward and
utilisetheir lands for farming”, he added.
The project command area can attain an average annual
croppingintensity of 85 per cent, as the Mirani Dam can
sustain perennialsupply to 33,200 acres benefiting about
32,000 people of more than4,400 families in the area.
The chief engineer denied reports that government land was
beingallotted to foreigners, particularly the UAE nationals,
for developingagriculture farms in the area. “It is all
private land and no landbelongs to the government in the
command area of Mirani Dam. It is truethat investors from
the UAE have shown their interest in developingagriculture
farms in the area, but they can hire and acquire land
fromprivate land owners for the purpose. The government can
only encourageforeign investment in the province as per its
policy”.
At present, agriculture in the project command area is below
sustenancelevel. The average cropping intensity is about
five per cent. The cropsgrown in the area are sorghum,
pulses, fodder and wheat but the yieldis very poor. The
project can help raise annual agriculture productionby 85
per cent - i.e. 36 per cent Kharif and 49 per cent Rabi
crops.Under ultimate development conditions, the proposed
cropping patternincludes fruit orchards, vegetables, fodders
and wheat etc.
The construction of Mirani Dam has not been without its
social andenvironmental costs. The local people however hold
technical flaws inthe Mirani Dam design responsible for
devastation of the area byflashfloods and rains.
Mr Sarwar said the dam had reduced the chances of flood
downstream andthe upstream areas were to be inundated
whether Mirani dam wasconstructed there or not. He said:
“The dam at present is intact with astorage capacity of 377
cusecs. The irrigation outlet conduit has alength of 1,490
feet with pressure conduit diameter of six feet. Thelow
level outlet conduit has a storage capacity of 120 cusecs
with alength of 855.27 feet and a diametre of three feet.
Water from the damis released as per requirements of
irrigation”.
The local farmers should be patronised and provided with
incentives todevelop agriculture in the area. The project
area is underdeveloped andlacks basic amenities. There is
also a need to improve infrastructuresuch as farm-to-market
roads and potable water, basic health andeducation
facilities, electricity and communications in the area.
Experts suggest that economic feasibility of generating
hydroelectricpower at this project should also be examined.
According to oneestimate, the dam can produce about 500 KW
of electricity for thenearby villages.
Some experts put the question mark on the viability of the
Mirani Damon a non-perennial stream. They doubt about the
availability of waterduring the periods of drought, which at
times persist for more thanfive years.
Enhanced sedimentation in Balochistan has already caused
failure ofreservoirs. It is likely to shorten the life span
of Mirani reservoir,which has been worked out as 30 years.
They suggest a review of thehydrological parameters of the
feasibility, as many dams having barrencatchments areas
producing silt-laden runoff, ended in failures.
Courtesy :
The DAWN
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Pakissan.com;
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