LAKKI MARWAT: The government has expedited work on the Baran dam raising project to ensure its completion next year to bring thousands of acres of arid land in Lakki Marwat and Bannu under cultivation.

It was disclosed during a high-level meeting held in the commissioner’s office in Bannu on Friday.

Divisional commissioner Shaukat Ali Yousafzai chaired the meeting, where Lakki Marwat DC Abdul Haseeb, Bannu DC Mohammad Zubair Niazi, project director Yaseen Khan and officials of irrigation department were in attendance.

The project director said the government had built the water reservoir in 1962 to irrigate 61,700 acres of land in both Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts.

“With the passage of time, the silt reduced the dam’s storage capacity badly affecting the agriculture sector in southern districts,” he said.

The project director said the de-silting and raising the dam’s height would increase the water storage capacity up to 100,000 acres feet.

He said work on spillway, siphon, feeder canal and headworks had been expedited and that the project would be completed at the cost of over Rs5 billion by Oct next year.

The divisional commissioner said the dam uplifting project would help develop agriculture, forestry, livestock, wildlife and other sectors and promote tourism in the region.

He asked the relevant authorities to meet the project deadline.

HELD:The police arrested two extortionists in Tajori town on Friday.

The arrest of Shakirullah and Ibrahim came on the complaint of local transporters.

The police said they had begun investigation after booking extortionists and their accomplice, Noor Aslam.

Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2021