Dr. Hani Sweilem, Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation, received a delegation from the Islamic Development Bank to evaluate the “Third National Drainage Program” project.
During the meeting, what was achieved during the first phase of the “Third National Drainage Program” and proposals for implementing the “Fourth National Drainage Project” were reviewed.
Sweilem directed an evaluation of the areas that were served by covered drainage networks for the first phase funded by the Islamic Development Bank “before and after implementation work,” and to compare the results to demonstrate the positive effects of implementing covered drainage networks in those areas.
He also directed a study of the priorities of the areas required to replace and renew covered drainage networks in order to include them within the work of the “Fourth National Drainage Project.”
He stated that the Ministry’s strategy aims to establish covered drainage networks in all old lands, according to the studies conducted in this regard, and to replace and renew covered drainage networks in areas that have expired, noting that the Drainage Authority is implementing the replacement and renewal of covered drainage networks in 89 thousand acres during the year. Fiscal 2022/2023, and it is targeted to implement the replacement and renewal of covered drainage networks in 60,000 acres during the current fiscal year 2023/2024.
He pointed to the benefits of covered agricultural drainage projects, which are represented in draining excess water from the needs of the plant and the soil to prevent an increase in the amounts of water in the surface layer of the soil and thus negatively affecting the plant, in addition to increasing the agricultural area and increasing the farmer’s income as a result of the increased land productivity and increased soil fertility, indicating that the continuation of the work Periodic maintenance of these networks represents a major tool for achieving the continuity of these networks in performing their work efficiently and increasing the life span of the covered drainage network.
It is worth noting that the Third National Drainage Program (2013 – 2026) aims to establish, replace and renew covered drainage networks in 528 thousand feddans, expand and deepen open and public drains, and replace and renovate some industrial facilities in 110 thousand feddans to raise the efficiency of the public drain network, as has been done to date. Replacing and renewing the covered drainage networks in 335,000 feddans, and the program is being implemented in several stages (the first phase, which was completed in 2019, during which the covered drainage networks in 94,000 feddans were replaced and renewed, and the public and open drains in 10,000 feddans were expanded and deepened – Phase The second, between the years 2016 – 2023, is to replace and renew the drainage networks covering 177,000 acres (of which 130,000 acres have been closed, and implementation and tendering is underway for the rest of the fields), and to expand and deepen the public and open drains in 30,000 acres (which have been closed, and the remaining works are being implemented and proposed). Public Drainage (Industrial Works) – the third phase in conjunction with the second phase between the years 2020 – 2026 to replace and renew the drainage networks covering 257 thousand acres (of which 111 thousand acres have been destroyed, and implementation and tendering is underway for the rest of the regions), and to expand and deepen the public and open drains and replace And renewing industrial works in 70,000 acres (30,000 acres have been destroyed, and the rest of the industrial works included in the project are being implemented and put forward).
