CHITRAL: The residents of Parwak village in Upper Chitral have demanded of the government to restore the siphon irrigation scheme on emergency basis to salvage their fodder and vegetables crops as well as fruit trees.

They said that their crops and orchards started withering away after the siphon pipes were swept away by flood four weeks ago.

The members of Parwak village council, Eid Ali, Sara Shah Pirzada and others told journalists here on Wednesday that their village was irrigated by siphon system, fetching water from the other side of the Yarkhoon River and was the only source of irrigation water.

They said that restoration of the system by providing and laying water pipes in places of the missing ones was yet to start while it was beyond the financial capacity of the farmers.

They said that the 500 households of the village were largely dependent on the siphon system. “They are now forced to transport drinking water in vehicles for daily consumption which is additional burden on their pockets,” they added.

The councillors lamented that the loss to agriculture would be disastrous for the villagers, who would lose their major source of sustenance they derived from vegetables, cereal crops and livestock.

They warned of acute food shortage in the area if no remedial measures were taken on emergency basis.

They also demanded of Aga Khan Foundation to rush to their rescue by extending help to restore the siphon, which had originally been launched by the organisation in 1984.

Deputy Commissioner Khalid Zaman, when contacted, said that a strategy was devised to restore the siphon scheme as per which pipes would be provided by public health engineering department while the labour work would be responsibility of villagers.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2023