Ibra – Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Water Resources (MAFWR) has completed maintenance work of 162 aflaj in North Sharqiyah as part of efforts to sustain traditional water systems vital to agriculture and rural communities.

The work, covering 90% of a total target of 179 aflaj across several wilayats, cost more than RO2mn. The effort is part of the ministry’s broader plan to rehabilitate aflaj damaged by extreme weather events, including the Al Mutayr depression that affected the governorate last year.

Hamad bin Rashid al Sawai from the Directorate General of Agriculture and Water Resources in North Sharqiyah said assessments were carried out by local agriculture and water departments in coordination with the Water Resources Department. These teams assessed the extent of damage, developed technical plans, issued tenders and monitored project execution on site.

Of the total 179 targeted, 78 aflaj are in Dima wa al Taiyyin, 30 in Wadi Bani Khalid, 21 in Ibra, 19 in Al Qabil, 17 in Al Mudhaibi, ten in Bidiyah and four in Sinaw.

North Sharqiyah has a total of 571 registered aflaj, many of which are the key source of water for farming and domestic use across the governorate’s diverse terrain. These traditional irrigation channels, recognised as a Unesco heritage system in Oman, continue to play a critical role in managing water resources, especially in remote and agriculture dependent villages.

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