PESHAWAR:Khyber Pakhutnkhwa Minister for Local Government and Rural Development, Faisal Amin Gandapur on Thursday said that physical work has been started on Ghozhzai Dam costing Rs 1.268 billion had been started in FR Tank.
He said that KP government is building small dams in Southern districts to control havoc of floods in future, besides providing water for agriculture and drinking purpose.
Talking to reporter, he termed construction of dams as indispensable for the country.
The minister said construction work on seven small irrigation dams and water reservoirs has already been initiated which would be completed at an estimated cost of Rs. 9 billion and would irrigate 14,135 acres of barren land in the merged districts.
He said if Gomal Zam Dam had not been constructed, perhaps the Dera city would have been completely destroyed with the flood.
Faisal Amin said this flood was more than that of 2010. This flood affected Dera Ismail Khan a lot as according to the data so far, 61,000 acres agricultural land has been affected.
He said the rescue activities were underway, however, the difficult phase of rehabilitation yet has to come.
The CRBC canal would have to be completely restored so that the restoration of agriculture could be made possible.
He said the Pak-Army and Police have extended a lot of cooperation in rescue and relief operations. The Pak-Army has provided a helicopter which was proved as very beneficial, he added.
The minister said that a lot of work has been done on drainage in the district due to which drainage has improved. The dewatering process was also underway in different areas.