KARACHI, July 9: Sindh Irrigation and Power Minister Nadir Akmal Leghari has said that the provincial irrigation department has identified vulnerable locations in view of coming monsoon.
Addressing a press conference on Saturday, Nadir Akmal Leghari pointed out that administrative districts of Thatta, Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar of lower Sindh were the most vulnerable in respect of disposal of drainage effluent and rainwater.
He explained that surface drains were being constructed to manage the disposal of drainage effluent. The main infrastructure consists of Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) system having 223 miles of outfall drains integrated with about 200 miles of branches and sub-drains.
The lower Sindh, he said, was also covered by nine isolated drainage systems having direct outfall into the sea consisting of 180 mile drains.
He told journalists that emergency camps had been established at 15 vulnerable locations under the jurisdiction of the SIDA and at six other locations under the jurisdiction of Kotri Barrage region.
Mr Leghari said the management of these 21 camp sites would be taken up at an anticipated expenditure of Rs7 million. He said that all the staff employed on drainage system had been kept on red alert and directed to maintain close liaison with headquarters and keep strict vigilance on drainage infrastructure.
About water availability position in the province, the minister recalled that water availability in the month of April and May reduced by 50 per cent. However, the situation improved after May 23 when snow started melting bringing improvement in the water flows.
He explained that the department took various steps during the gap to ensure that required water was made available for crops and this included rotation system on the right side of Indus which was mainly rice growing area. He said that when the water situation improved, the rotation programme was done away with.
He appreciated the IRSA for releasing 8000 cusecs of water at Chaunsa which would have a good thrust on reaching Sindh. “Our all out efforts are aimed at meeting the shortages for which all steps have been taken including monitoring of water supplies and vigilance by the Rangers along with the department staff to ensure that water reaches the tail ends”.
To a question, Secretary Irrigation explained that Sindh faced 50 per cent water shortage in April which came down to 12 per cent in the first 10 days of May, 40 per cent from May 10 to 20, and 12 per cent during the last 10 days of May. He further said that water was surplus by 5.7 per cent in the first 10 days of June and by 4 per cent in second 10 days while there was 27 per cent shortage during the last 10 days of June. He said there had been flows downstream of Kotri in June but at present there were no flows downstream of Kotri.—APP
