HARIPUR: The Sera-i-Saleh check dam here will increase the subsurface water for irrigation purposes by 30 per cent and put an end to the problem of irrigation water shortage for farmlands.

Mohammad Shoaib, sub-divisional officer irrigation department, said this while briefing provincial irrigation minister Arshad Ayub Khan here on Sunday.

The minister earlier laid the foundation stone of the Sera-i-Saleh check dam project on Daur River near Gar village.

Briefing the minister, the SDO irrigation said the dam project would be completed with a cost of Rs163 million in a year. He said it would have storage capacity of 50,000 cusecs, which would increase subsurface water by 30 per cent and help protect the upstream land on both sides of the Daur River from erosion.

Work launched on Haripur check dam

He said the check dam would also help block the flow of silt into the Tarbela reservoir.

HARASSMENT ALLEGED: A teenage girl here on Sunday accused an Afghan contractor of threatening her family members of serious consequences if they failed to marry her off to him.

The girl, a resident of Kotha Pirkot village, was addressing a press conference at Haripur Press Club here.

Accompanied by her mother and uncle, the girl who claimed to be a 12th grader said the Afghan contractor, named Hazir Khan, was hired to dig a bore for water in their home several months ago and he then somehow obtained her mobile number and pictures and started using them as a tool of blackmailing her.

When contacted, Sera-i-Saleh SHO Ehjaz Ali said the police had registered a criminal case against Hazir Khan on Jan 1, 2022, under section 506 of PPC and 25-D of Telegraph Act on complaint of the same girl. However, both the parties went for reconciliation after registration of the case.

The SHO said the contractor had again filed a complaint against the girl and her family, accusing them of allegedly receiving cash and valuables from him for marrying her off to him. He said he had started inquiry into the complaints lodged by the girl and the contractor.

Published in Dawn, December 5th, 2022