May 4, 2005	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 24, 1426

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HYDERABAD, May 3: Irrigation authorities are insisting on releasing the Manchhar Lake water into the River Indus as they are expecting medium and high floods this season at Sukkur and Kotri upstream. The authorities say the floods will enable them to feed the lake with fresh Indus water and upgrade the lake environmentally. However, sources said, civic agencies and civil administration functionaries must store water for at least four days for public consumption because water released from the Manchhar Lake would take four to five days to reach Jamshoro.

They said the authorities should keep checking the water quality at different points and if they did not find it within safe limits, the inflow from Manchhar should be stopped. They said there was only one in-let source of the Manchhar Lake – Danistar Wah – which would be operated once the level of the Indus River was above the lake’s level. “That’s why the authorities intend to bring the level of the lake within controllable limits to make it safe in monsoon and feed it with fresh river water”, they observed.

They said the irrigation officials expected a discharge of around 400,000 cusecs of water this season provided there were rains in upcountry. And if it happened, they said, there would be medium or high floods at Sukkur and Kotri upstream.

Sources said the need of off-taking canals of the Kotri Barrage would increase by the end of May and in early June when around 42,000 to 43,000 cusecs of water would be released from Sukkur downstream.

They said the authorities were ready to abide by the water ratio given by the committee to the irrigation department to ensure availability of safe drinking water to people, and added that the authorities would even ensure the ratio of 1:30 if it was proposed by the committee.

The irrigation authorities initially do not plan to release more than 1,000 cusecs of water from the lake. If the discharge at Sukkur downstream is 25,000 cusecs of water for Kotri upstream, more than 1,000s of water may be released.

The officials believe that Manchhar can only be fed through fresh water of the Indus when it flows above the lake’s level which is expected this monsoon.

That’s why the authorities want to reduce the level of the lake to 105RL so that the quantity of fresh water in it could be increased.

The Manchhar water got highly contaminated when the lake received effluent-filled water through the MNV Drain which is to be connected to the Right Bank Outfall Drain to carry saline water to sea.

The sources disclosed that the irrigation authorities at Manchhar would operate only two gates of the lake to release water.

The authorities, however, are awaiting the decision of the committee, appointed by the Sindh secretary for irrigation, to decide the quantity of water to be released from the lake into Indus.