CHITRAL:Micro-water shed project was inaugurated in Dolomos area of Chitral on Monday, under this project 119 acres of rain-fed land (barren land) will be converted into cultivable land.
Director General (DG) Soil and Water Conservation Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Muhammad Yasin Khan Wazir was chief guest while Vice Chancellor, Chitral University Professor Dr. Muhammad Zahir Shah, Director Admin Dr Nadeem and District Officer Aminul Haq were also present on the occasion.
Briefing the participants, Wazir said that the province two very valuable natural resources of water and soil. He said that not only humans rather other living things also get their food from these two things.
He said that Pakistan was an agricultural country, but it was not self-sufficient in its grain production and that was the reason for wheat import. He said that to solve this problem, the government has initiated an agriculture emergency programme.
Under the initiative there is also a plan of water conservation in the rainy area Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. The total cost of the project is Rs.6 million out of which Rs. 1 million will be borne by the land owner i.e. the local community and remaining lion share of Rs.5 million by the government.
Under the project both wild and fruit bearing sapling (plants) will be planted in the specified land and irrigated by dip system.
Vice Chancellor University of Chitral Prof. Dr. Zahir Shah welcomed the project and termed it a very useful project, saying it will control land erosion and water wastage. He said that adequate water is wasted in our country in the form of floods.
The project, he said, will also have a very positive impact on the environment and climate change. He added besides stopping land erosion, the plantation of trees will also generate fresh oxygen.
He said that it will be a good platform for the students of Chitral University to conduct research in this field as well as an alternative source of botanical garden.