Moonis constitutes committee to provide additional water to Karachi
December 28, 2021 09:18 PM
Federal Minister for Water Resources Moonis Elahi Tuesday chaired the second meeting of the Steering Committee of National Water Policy today in the Ministry of Water Resources.
The Federal Minister reviewed the matter of providing additional water supply to Karachi in pursuance of the decision of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) and approved the constitution of a committee headed by the Joint Secretary (Water) MoWR and comprising IRSA Members, MD KWSB, and provincial secretaries of Irrigation Departments.
The meeting was attended by the Federal Secretary of Ministry of Water Resources, Planning, Development & Special Initiatives (PD&SI), representatives of Finance Division, Ministry of National Food Security & Research (NFS&R), and the provincial secretaries of Irrigation and Agriculture departments of the Governments of Punjab, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan.
Representatives of the Governments of Azad Jammu & Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan also attended the meeting. Besides, representatives of WAPDA, Surveyor General of Pakistan, IRSA, Flood Commission and the Pakistan Commissioner for Indus Waters also attended.
The Minister for Water Resources highlighted the importance of the water sector and underscored the importance of the implementation of the National Water Policy for achieving the economic development goals of the country and the wellbeing of the people of Pakistan.
The Minister for Water Resources reviewed the status of concurrence on the Implementation Framework of National Water Policy presented in the first meeting of the Steering Committee held in September 2021.
While appreciating the painstaking efforts made by the Ministry in formulating the Implementation Framework, Moonis Elahi urged the stakeholders to expedite furnishing the concurrence of the respective stakeholders within two weeks.
The stakeholders were also directed to submit their respective concurrence through the respective P&D Departments being a consolidated input of the provinces.
As an additional agenda item, he also considered the request of Govt of AJ&K for the resolution of 614 cusec water from Mangla to irrigate its surrounding areas lying in AJK. In this regard, he suggested the Govt of AJK submit a reference to the M/O WR for taking further necessary action.
He concluded the meeting by appreciating the efforts made by the Ministry of Water Resources to arrange a second meeting of the steering committee of the NWP within a short period of three months.
He encouraged the stakeholders particularly the provinces to follow the same spirit and extend their best cooperation in the implementation of the national water policy.