Muscat: Oman’s authorities have launched an ambitious conservation programme targeting several hundred aflaj – ancient irrigation systems that are a key part of the sultanate’s rich heritage.
Around 170 contracts have been awarded since the start of the year for the conservation of aflaj and natural springs across the Sultanate, according to a senior official of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources.
Oman has an estimated 3,000 aflaj systems, comprising networks of underground channels, raised aqueducts, inverted siphons and surface channels that distribute water often over rocky terrain.
Many of these ancient water distribution systems are believed to over 2,000 years old and some of channels have been dated back to 2,500 BC. For hundreds of years, these systems have been a life-sustaining source of water and income for the people of Oman.
Conserving these aflaj systems is the responsibility of the Ministry of Regional Municipalities and Water Resources. According to Saif bin Sulaiman al Amri, Director of the Aflaj Department, cave-ins within the underground channels are a perennial problem that leads to blockages and eventually the death of the aflaj system.
Unrestrained abstraction of groundwater by bore-wells that tap the same aquifers is also a problem that will be tackled as part of the current campaign, he added.
In addition to their importance as sources of irrigation water, Oman’s aflaj (singular: falaj) are also major tourist attractions in their own right. In 2006, Unesco designated five of the Sultanate’s most important aflaj as World Heritage sites.
They were: Falaj Al Khatmeen in Birkat Al Mauz, Falaj Malki in Izki, Falaj Daris in Nizwa, Falaj Al Jeela in Sur and Falaj Al Muyasser in Rustaq.
