Pakistan’s Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) Chief Minister Sohail Afridi has written to Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif calling for urgent action on the Chashma Right Bank Canal (CRBC) project, warning that decades of delays are heightening tensions between provincial and federal authorities.
The CRBC project is a major irrigation initiative designed to divert water from the Chashma Barrage to irrigate over 280,000 acres of farmland in KP, particularly in regions affected by terrorism and underdevelopment. It aims to boost agricultural productivity, generate substantial economic benefits, and support the livelihoods of rural communities.
In his letter, Afridi noted that among Pakistan’s major irrigation projects across its four provinces, the CRBC lift canal is the only one yet to show significant progress, while other provincial projects were completed under the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord.
The project, formally approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) in October 2022, is expected to deliver annual economic benefits of 38 billion Pakistani rupees (around $170 million). Implementation has stalled despite a 2016 federal-provincial financing agreement assigning 65% of costs to the federal government and 35% to KP.
Afridi criticized minimal federal allocations and alleged deliberate delays, pointing to slow procurement, pre-qualification, and land acquisition by Pakistan’s Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).
The provincial government has allocated PKR 2 billion for land acquisition in 2024-25 and an additional PKR 5 billion for 2025-26. In contrast, federal allocations in the Public Sector Development Program for 2025-26 amount to just PKR 100 million, reflecting what Afridi described as a lack of seriousness.
Afridi stressed the project’s strategic role in fostering economic growth and agricultural development in terrorism-affected regions, urging immediate funding through federal resources or international donor support.
He warned that further delays could exacerbate public frustration and deepen the trust deficit between KP and the federal government.
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