Failure of Mardan/Swabi SCARPs

Most of the NWFP human and material resources lie in Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and Mardan and Swabi Districts, and the area is both culturally and economically the heart of the province. The land in these districts can be classified amongst the richest soils in the country and is the mainstay of agriculture in NWFP.

The fertility of these lands has further been ensured by the implementation of Mardan and Swabi Salinity Control and Reclamation Projects (SCARP), with billions of rupees investment.

 Incidentally, the outfalls of these SCARPs discharge their effluents through two major drains i.e. The Hissara Drain and The Murdara Drain, into River Kabul.

Investigation of their outfall levels suggest that, they will probably continue functioning during the normal reservoir level of KBD (at 915-ft elevation), but will backflow once in every five years time (with the floods of 1 in 5 year), with disastrous circumstances.

WAPDA has admitted this phenomenon to occur for about 12 hours, with which the lands will be inundated in about one mile area, after which the waters will recede.

This is an irresponsible statement because the exact effects of such a regular occurrence, and in the eventuality of a 1 in 10 year flooding and a 1 in 100 year flooding, have not been forecasted by WAPDA, which will surely be much more than the 12 hours blockage of outfall drains claimed.

 Therefore, the negative impacts of KBD will extend deep into the lands of Peshawar, Charsadda, Nowshera and Mardan districts, and will significantly reduce the productivity of these only cultivable lands of NWFP. The destruction of such valuable and scarce assets in a province with limited resources would have catastrophic repercussions on the life of the people of the province. And the people in the said districts will not be able to support life in their ancient habitats, and would be forced to migrate to other places.