Community based Water Resource development in Drought Prone Areas: A Case Study of different irrigation systems in Rain fed area of Potohar plateau Punjab, District Chakwal, Pakistan

The proposed case study examines the traditional sources and modern irrigation schemes in Lawa, a large village of District Chakwal, an arid region of Punjab, Pakistan. The study reviews efforts & features four different types of interventions undertaken by NRSP , Pakistan’s largest poverty-reduction/development NGO, to mobilise village-level human and financial resources to meet locally identified water harvesting needs to be met through opportunities. The hilly Project area of Union Council Lawa borders the canal irrigated plain fertile lands of Punjab, and has been severely affected by the drought in first decade of this century. To convey an idea of the magnitude of the problems caused by the drought, the study monetizes the effects of the drought in project area in terms of impacts on crop productivity, livestock productivity, incomes, heath and nutritional effects, compounding to the tune of Rs 1 billion.The paper presents community and government level responses to drought, and the current Project strategic interventions adopted for integrated water resource management. Based on the comparison of benefits, scheme parameters ,the study recommends to extend the DMPP in the neighbouring Union Councils of Thoa Mehram Khan and Bhalomar having regional hydro-geological, topographic similarity, with emphasis on labour intensive interventions like construction of the minidams, delay action dams/check dams and Rain water harvesting structures as a geographically and categorically integrated and sustainable response in terms of Drought Mitigation and preparedness against climate change in the Chakwal district

کلیدواژه ها:

Lawa ، Drought mitigation ، Community based Water Management ، Rain fed area ، Punjab