LAKKI MARWAT, Oct 30: The local farmers and elders here on Wednesday stressed the need for construction of Kurram Tangi dam, saying it would help to overcome the shortage of food and energy in the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Speaking at a community consultation session, they asked the authorities to start work on the dam as they were ready to extend full assistance to the government in that regard.

The session was arranged by a private engineering firm. The project manager of the firm, Altaf Iqbal, Wapda officials Mohsin Ali and Naimatullah and irrigation department official Noor Kamal also attended the session.

The experts briefed the participants on environmental study of the dam and its requirements with special focus on the status of present environmental im-pacts assessment study.

`The main objectives of the dam project are water storage for flood control, boosting agriculture through irrigation canals and hydropower production,` they said.

They said that the dam would increase canal irrigation by 84,000 acres, improve irrigation in another 278,000 acres area, produce 332 million kilowatts electricity each year and create 3,500 jobs during the four years of construction.

A technical discussion was also held on the occasion on water resources, air quality, noise level, biological environment, flora, fauna and fisheries, endangered species, cultural and historical sites and socio-economic environment.

`The residents of the district fully support the dam project and they are ready to extend all out cooperation to the quarters concerned to start work onit,` the elders and farmer leaders said.

They said that the dam would usher in a new era of development in the backward district besides bringing a green revolution in Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Karak and North Waziristan Agency.

They also put forward workable suggestions to the officials to make the dam project more beneficial for local people. They demanded of Wapda to increase the length of Marwat Canal and enhance flow of water from 800 cusec to 1,000 cusec in it.

With the rehabilitation of Marwat Canal, they said, the farmers would have sufficient water for irrigation.

They said that the dam project would also boost fisheries, livestock, agriculture, water management, soil conservation, forests, wildlife and other sectors and would alleviate poverty.