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| August 21, 2006 | Monday | Rajab 25, 1427 |
Breaches in LBOD inundate villages
MIRPURKHAS, Aug 20: Several villages and crop were inundated after three more breaches occurred in the Left Bank Outfall Drain in Hussain Bux Mari taluka on Sunday.
Irrigation and LBOD authorities failed to plug the breaches.
The affected villagers were shifted to safer places.
A 20-foot wide breach occurred in the LBOD main drain near Khan town on Saturday.
The saline water is gushing in submerging over a dozen villages.
The flooded villages are: Ali Sher Mari, Meero Mari, Sarwar Mari, Dawood Wassan, Ali Dino Mari, Zahid Mari, Zahid Wassan, Hayat Ali and Mehrab Wassan.
Three more breaches in the drain developed on Sunday damaged crops and entered nearby villages.
Mirpurkhas DCO Mumtaz Shah, EDO (revenue) Rahim Soomro, Taluka Nazim Mumtaz Mari and Naib Taluka Nazim Ali Nawaz Mari reached the spot.
They called for machinery and staff to plug breaches but in vain.
The LBOD, one of world’s largest drainage projects, was conceived in the 1960s to control the menace of waterlogging and salinity.
It was supposed to drain out saline water from the lower Indus valley to the sea.
It may be mentioned that the multi-million project was jointly financed by the World Bank, Asian Development Bank, government of Pakistan, government of Sindh and other international financial institutions.
The ill-designed drain had played havoc in Badin district after breaches occurred in it at several places in 2003.
CANAL CLOSED: The Jamrao canal has been closed by irrigation authorities to save villages and crops. Due to rainfall the irrigation department stopped water supply to the canal, irrigated from the Nara canal.
About 15 days back irrigation authorities reduced water level in the canal by two-feet but continuous rains water gradually increased in it. Farmers have closed their watercourses while irrigation authorities diverted water in LBOD drain to save canals from breaches.
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