REFERENCE the report `Sindh canals rehabilated under Rs30bn water project`(March 13). This will cover 30pc of the irrigated area of the province. The reportgoes ontostate thatthe conveyance efficiency increased from 66 to 71pc which corresponds to 0.80 MAF of water savings.

This is great news for water-starved Pakistan and its small tailend farmers.

However, to cover all 100pc of the irrigated area, an additional Rs70bn would be needed using simple extrapolation. The question we must ask ourselves is: will it last for 25 years plus or will we be repeating this kind of an exercise every three to five years? Why don`t we start replacing small canals and minors with PVC plastic pipes which have a guarenteed life of 50 years.

They have zero leakages/seepages. They do not allow any tree growth and prevent reduction in width and their capacity.

They don`t breach like canals often do.

Unlike canals where breaches can be made by influential water thieves and repaired without leaving a sign, plastic pipes can be breached but cannot be repaired easily.

Importantly, repairs are easily visible.

Moreover due to smooth internal surface,silting does not take place. Last but not least, weeds and trees cannot grow inside pipes owing to the absence of sunlight.

Let us start converting our canals and minors into pipes and get rid of water losses once and for all Iqbal Raza Karachi