ISLAMABAD, April 20: Sindh has sought Rs500 million from the federal government to urgently rehabilitate weakening structures of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and Kadhan Pateje Outfall Drain (KPOD). Official sources told this correspondent the Sindh government had submitted a detailed plan, for approval by the Planning and Development Division, to carry out emergency repair/rehabilitation work along the LBOD and KPOD and also to safeguard the lives and property of people of Badin district.

The plan has been prepared in consultation with the army authorities to avoid overlapping and on the basis of a survey carried out with the help of the 5-Crops (engineers) as decided in a meeting presided over by President Gen Pervez Musharraf last year in Karachi.

It has been decided the concerned officials of Sindh will have close coordination with the Army Core of Engineers, the WAPDA and related agencies for processing/implementing and funding arrangements from the federal government and evolve a strategy to satisfactorily take up the job.

The purpose of the plan is also to construct outfall structure of the KPOD to control sea intrusion into the mainland.

The Sindh authorities regret that rehabilitation work could not start yet despite the president’s directive.

The Sindh government has submitted a revised plan as asked by the president to undertake the rehabilitation work in three phases.

The designed discharge of LBOD spinal drainage system is 4600 cusecs of water, whereas it has carried a discharge of about 10,000 cusecs during heavy rains in July 2003 which caused several breaches and losses of human lives and property.

The LBOD system was constructed by the WAPDA for disposal of effluent from Nawabshah, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Badin districts.

This system comprises three main drain networks, namely the Spinal Drain, KPOD and Dhoro Pran Outfall Drain and was handed over by the WAPDA to the Irrigation and Power department of Sindh on February 1, 2002.

The Sindh has informed the federal authorities that the Tidal Link Drain had already been damaged during incumbency of the WAPDA by a cyclone in 999 and seawater had paved its way into the Tidal Link and significantly intruded into the mainland.

The Sindh authorities have proposed to construct an outfall gated structure for a drain out-falling in the KPOD to prevent backflow and an outfall structure for the KPOD to control seawater intrusion into it due to failure of the Tidal Link.