COMMUNITY PARTICIPATION:

The PIU, Sibbi team including the Deputy Project Director, Nari basin, Sikander Zehri, officials of Agriculture Department and the recently elected representatives of the project’s first Farmers’ Organization (FO) formed in the Bakhra Ghulam Bolak scheme site in the Nari River Basin participated in a meeting with the Implementation Support Mission of International Development Association of the World Bank Group (WBG-IDA) in the project management unit (PMU), Quetta on October 25. The Mission comprising Senior Water Resource Specialist, Sheikh Javed Ahmed; Environmental Specialist, Ms. Rahat Jabeen; and Social Safeguards Specialist, Ms. Najam-us-Sahar comprehensively discussed the process of FO formation with the FO representatives. The Mission and PMU component leads highlighted the pivotal roles and responsibilities of FO as a community based organization, for effective management of the project functions. They responded to the questions by the FO representatives. The recently selected FO Chairman and representatives of FO informed that the pavement of the water courses and channels as part of the project’s development initiatives will drastically reduce water losses by 100 percent in their area. This, along with the improved speed of water will multiply the irrigation capacity through expanded irrigation of thousands of acres of the arid lands. The project component representatives, including from the irrigation, agriculture, forest, matching grants, environment and gender discussed their area specific interventions. The FO representatives expressed support for the project initiatives in their area.