The Indus flows as a single river and its plain comprises vast fertile tract stretching westward from narrow strip of flood plain on the right bank and a large expanse of the Thar desert, extending eastward from the left bank.
The green tracts of crop fields and vegetation punctuated with rows\ columns of trees, and fruit orchards present an array of a beauty of nature. Banana, coconut and cheeku are the peculiar fruit produce of the province.
An elaborate canal system irrigates a considerable part of the Sindh province that accounts for about 40 per cent of Pakistan's irrigated land. The population in the country has touched 145 million mark and is estimated to rise to 280 million by the year 2025.
Sindh being not an exception, with its average annual growth rate of 2.8 per cent calls for developing more resources to bring more of its lands under plough, and to produce more food and fibre to meet the demands of its increasing population.
Undoubtedly, Pakistan is fortunate to have been bestowed with the bounty of water resource, By harnessing more of the resource, the problem of water scarcity can be overcome and the coveted goal of bringing the virgin land under plough can be achieved more successfully.
Simultaneously, the demand for electricity is also on increase. The additions of thermal generation over a period of time have enhanced power generation capacity but it has also resulted in increased production cost due to ever-escalating prices of furnace oil and gas fuels.
Therefore, sizable injection of low-cost hydropower is needed to keep prices of electricity within limits of the productive sectors like agriculture and industry as well as that of common man.
Wapda has initiated various projects to develop and manage water resource for irrigation and low-cost hydropower generation, drainage, prevention of water logging and salinity and reclamation of affected land in the province as elsewhere in the country. The major development projects under way for the purpose in Sindh are:
Rainee Canal, Lower Indus Right Bank Irrigation & Drainage (RBOD-1), and Sehwan Barrage Complex. Meanwhile, Chotiari Reservoir project has been completed in the recent past. Rainee canal is meant to provide irrigation supplies to the lands in Ghotki, Sukkur and Khairpur districts.
Off-taking from the left bank of the Indus River down stream of Guddu Barrage, 107 miles long canal will have capacity to carry 5155 cusecs of water. This will irrigate 412,400 acres of the Nara Region through a network of 331 miles long branches, distributors/minors and allied structures and is expected to be completed by December 2007 at an approved cost of Rs18,862 million.
The Lower Indus Right Bank Irrigation and Drainage project, known as RBOD, located in Shikarpur, Dadu and Larkana districts was initiated in 1994. The project is designed to provide outfall facilities to the existing and the proposed drainage project, to improve environmental conditions in Manchar and Hamal lakes and the existing drainage system.
This would increase agriculture production in an area of 542,500 acres of land. The RBOD-1 project being jointly executed by Wapda and the Irrigation and Power Department (Sindh) is expected to be completed in June next year at a cost estimated to be Rs4,395 million.
The project components include RBOD Indus Link, RBOD Extension works upto MKZP and Rehabilitation of Rato Dero, Miro Khan and Shahdadkot network. As much as 59 per cent of the physical work has been completed at the project.
The Sehwan Barrage complex, proposed to be located one mile upstream of Sehwan Sharif, is to cater irrigation supplies needs of the Southern half of the lower Indus Region.The purpose of the project is to increase irrigation supplies through the water storage and thereby maximizing crop intensities besides feeding the Manchhar Lake.
The project will irrigate 2.3 million acres of land in the lower Indus region which presently falls under Sukkur Barrage Left Bank commands of Rohri and Nara Canals.
Topographic, strip, cross section, fixing of bench marks for project area works have been completed. The complex having 650,000 acre feet water storage reservoir capacity, five feeders are planned to be taken out from the Sehwan Barrage, three from Left Bank and two from Right bank.
The project is expected to generate 70 mw low cost Hydel power as well. Almost 55 per cent of the initiated works have been completed. Chotiari Reservoir having a storage capacity of 700,000 acre feet of water has been completed in December 2002.
The Rs5,659 million project was undertaken in 1994 as an integral part of the Left Bank Out fall Drain (LBOD) Stage-1 project to provide an off-stream storage facility on Left side of Lower Nara Canal for irrigation water.
The reservoir is 13 km wide and 16 km long covering an area of about 45,000 acres This is to provide irrigation supplies to 290,000 acres of land for Rabi crop during winter located in Sanghar and Mirpur Khas districts of the Sindh.
Wapda has also completed 19 Salinity Control and Reclamation projects (SCARPs) in Sindh since start of the programme in 1960s which have helped increase cropping intensity considerably in the province as elsewhere in the other three federating units of Balochistan, NWFP and Punjab.
The writer is Director of Public Relations, Wapda.
