July 22, 2003	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 21, 1424

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DADU, July 21: The River Indus is building pressure on the right side of the Dadu-Moro bridge in Dadu district as the water flow had destroyed 500 feet of the J-spur by Monday.

The water was heading towards 30 villages of the Kutcha area, while thousands of acres of land have already been flooded.

Three teams of the irrigation department, headed by the chief engineer, Sukkur Barrage, Syed Noor Mohammad Shah; the superintendent engineer, Rohri Circle, Ghulam Nabi Mughal; and the executive engineer, Rohri division, Mansoor Ahmed Magsi, have established camps at the Mole Bund near the affected part of the J-spur to retain the course of the Indus River at the original site.

The irrigation staff was dumping stones on the affected part of the J-spur with heavy machinery and labour.

The chief engineer, Sukkur Barrage, Syed Noor Mohammad Shah, while briefing newsmen said that 800,000 cubic feet stones would be dumped along 500-feet of the affected J-spur to push back the flow of the Indus.

He said that the total length of the J-spur was 2,000 feet on the right side of the Dadu-Moro bridge, and added that stones would be dumped upto 12 ft in depth on the affected part of the J-spur because the Indus water had washed away the main part of the J-spur and it was eroding it.

He claimed that this was not dangerous for the area because it would touch a section of the Dadu-Moro road and two small embankments, the Mole Bund and its second arm, which were strong enough.

He said that a T-headed spur would be constructed from the head of the J-spur to the Dadu-Moro road on the right side of the bridge.

He said the T-headed spur had been approved by the Sindh government and would be initiated soon.

He claimed that the katcha area would not be flooded during the current monsoon.

He said that work was going on the affected parts of the Bhanote and Mudh Bunds and the situation there was not dangerous.

He said that stones would also be dumped along the left side of the river, near the Dadu-Moro bridge.

Mr Mughal told newsmen that the water level in the Indus River had reduced at the Dadu-Moro bridge on Monday. He said that the Indus was trying to change its course at the J-spur.

However, he claimed that the situation was under control.

The executive engineer, Rohri division, Manzoor Ahmed Magsi, told newsmen that the current of the river had pulled four Beldars of the irrigation department — Hashim Solangi, Umer Solangi, Abdul Sattar Solangi and Ali Nawaz Almani — when they were dumping stones but they were saved by some divers.

He said that 250 truckloads of stones were being dumped at the site daily.

The water had gushed into the katcha belt of Dadu district at the time of the filing of this report. It had entered the villages of K.T. Jatoi, K.T. Khuhra, K.T. Khushik, Najam Korejo village, Azeem Lund, Siddique Chandio, A. Jurio Jatoi, Haji Ayub Mastoi, Saleh Jatoi, Misri Machhi and Inayat Jatoi.

The villagers had started shifting their families to safer places.

OUR SUKKUR CORRESPONDENT ADDS: Rain water has entered the Manchhar Lake raising its level from 4 to 6ft.

However, irrigation sources in Sukkur said that the water pressure at Tarbela and Taunsa had declined as a result of which the discharge in the Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages had also reduced.

BREACH PLUGGED: The breach which developed in Moosa Allah Abad Wah, near Thal, has been plugged completely.

However, the telecommunication system has not been restored as yet as a result of which Thal remains cut off from the other parts of the country.