The seepage of Chasham Jhelum-link Canal has destroyed thousands acres of land in the tehsil. The crops are also affected.
On the other side, the River Jhelum with its floods also damages the crops which are cultivated on the both sides of the river. Irrigation efficiency is very low in the area.
The farmers Association said that the farmers are facing a lot of problems and the reasons for such a huge productivity gap include traditional farming practices, inefficient irrigation methods, high input costs, lack of bio-safety regulations and insufficient institutional credit for poor farmers.
Irrigation efficiency is very low and 60 per cent of irrigation water is lost during transmission of water from source to the field, they added
They said that the government never announce any relief package for the farmers of these areas.
The farmers association appealed to the Punjab Chief Minister to announce a special relief package for the affected farmers of Noorpur Thal.
A very important feature of the Devolution Plan is the participation and involvement of non-elected
citizens in the development process in their respective local areas. The institutional arrangements for the attainment of this objective are provided through CCBs. Section 98 of PLGO 2001, encompasses the objectives, composition and scope of CCBs as under:
“In every local area, groups of non-elected citizens may, through voluntary, proactive and self-help initiatives, set up any number of Citizen Community Boards. Such Citizen Community Boards shall be set up for the purposes of, inter alia, energizing the community for development and improvement in service delivery, development and management of a new or existing public facility, identification of development and municipal needs, mobilization of stakeholders for community involvement in the improvement and maintenance of facilities. …………..”
“In every local area, groups of non-elected citizens may, through voluntary, proactive and self-help initiatives, set up any number of Citizen Community Boards. Such Citizen Community Boards shall be set up for the purposes of, inter alia, energizing the community for development and improvement in service delivery, development and management of a new or existing public facility, identification of development and municipal needs, mobilization of stakeholders for community involvement in the improvement and maintenance of facilities. …………..”
A TMA is bound to set apart 25% of its development budget for allocation to CCBs. The unspent CCB allocation in a financial year cannot be expended on any other development or non-development activity. The unspent CCB balance continues to accumulate and becomes available for CCB allocation in the next financial year. A TMA can provide up to 80% funds for a CCB scheme and the remaining 20% are to be arranged by CCB itself.
Total number of registered CCBs of TMA Noorpur Thal is 161 out of which only 24 CCBs have taken up development projects whereas total projects are 30 in number. Out of these 30 initiated sub-projects, 16 have been physically completed and remaining are in progress. Category wise detail of sub-projects undertaken through CCBs in TMA Noorpur Thal is as follows:
The details of year-wise allocation of funds for CCBs is given below:
