HYDERABAD, May 21: The adviser to the Sindh chief minister on local government, kutchi abadis and special development, Mr Waseem Akhtar, has held the irrigation department responsible for water crisis in the district.

He was presiding over a meeting of irrigation, HDA, Sida and district government officers at the district Nazim secretariat here on Thursday. He said that had the irrigation authorities considered the available quantity of water in the River Indus and quality of discharged water from the Manchhar Lake, the crisis would have not occurred.

Mr Akhtar said that the purpose of holding the meeting was to inquire into causes of supplying toxic water to residents and present status of water supply and adopt preventive measures and provide relief to affected people.

He endorsed a proposal of District Nazim Dr Makhdoom Rafiquzzaman and announced formation of a water regularity committee. Giving details about objectives of the committee, the adviser said that the irrigation authorities before opening emergency gates of the Manchhar Lake for water flow into the Indus would have to seek permission of the committee.

The committee before issuing permission would consider all aspects and get water reservoirs providing water supply to people filled for the required period. The irrigation management after channelizing the polluted water in emergency would release the required fresh water into the Indus within the period sanctioned to them to avoid any water crisis in future, he further said.

Mr Akhtar also supported another proposal of Dr Rafiquzzaman about linking saline water channels with the Right Bank Outfall Drain rather than with the Manchhar Lake to make Manchhar a pollution-free lake. He added that the proposal would be tabled at the cabinet meeting.

He directed the irrigation department to conduct daily laboratory tests of canals' water and exchange the tests with the district government to ensure supply of potable water to people.

The district Nazim informed the meeting that since last March no fresh water had been released downstream Kotri. He demanded that the irrigation department should open gates of the Kotri Barrage up to three to five inches for 48 to 72 hours to wash out stagnant water and provide fresh water at downstream Kotri from where drinking water was supplied to people of Hussainabad and Latifabad.

Briefing the meeting, Kotri Barrage chief engineer Agha Ali Hassan and director, hydrology, irrigation department, Manzoor Shaikh, said that emergency gates of the Arral Wah, originating from the Manchhar Lake, were opened on May 14 for few hours on trial basis to keep them operational in case of emergency.

They said that due to this practice, only 200 cusecs of water was released from Manchhar into the Indus and that was not so much toxic as reported in the press. They informed that 4,000 cusecs of fresh water had been released from the Sukkur Barrage on May 19 and the situation would become normal in 24 to 36 hours.

The officials pointed out that toxic effluent of the Kotri industrial area was being disposed of into the KB Feeder Canal which was the main source of drinking water for people of Karachi. Similarly, they said, sewage of the Hyderabad city was being discharged into the Phuleli Canal.

The adviser said that it was the responsibility of the industrial area management to establish an effluent treatment plant. He informed the meeting that water treatment plants, one each at south and north sides, were being established under the Greater Hyderabad Sewerage Project to avoid canal's water pollution.