BADIN, Sept 28: Sindh Minister for Population and Welfare Syed Ali Bux Shah has said that redesigning of Left Bank Outfall Drain is inevitable in order to save people, wildlife, fisheries and eco-system from further destruction in Badin and Thatta districts.
Talking to Dawn on Thursday, he said that the World Bank had at last accepted the total failure of the tidal link and Cholri weir.
He said that the two ill-designed projects had caused sea intrusion and over 80 million dollars spent on them had gone down the drain.
He said that the World Bank accepted the faults after elected members and Senator Yasmeen Shah raised the issues and farmers cried hoarse about damages caused to thousands of acres of land in Badin district.
He said that the failure of the drain was first confirmed with a letter which Wapda officials despatched to project consultant demanding the firm to pay cost of repairs and rehabilitation of the project which had collapsed due to the faulty design.
He said that the shift in Wapda’s attitude came when a major portion of the Cholri weir of the tidal link constructed at a cost of 80 million dollars to maintain average level of water in lakes was washed away by sea in June 1998.
He said that the north bank of the tidal link had been facing erosion problem from the very first day.
Mr Shah said that the LBOD phase-I was inaugurated by former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto in February 1996 and the tidal link had a bed width 92 feet and was to carry maximum flow of 3,500 cusecs water and this link was to dispose of effluent from Nawabshah, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas sub-projects and the tidal link was the most important component which connected outfall drain with an active sea creek Shah Sammabho.
He said that the Cholri weir collapsed on June 24, 1998 when breaches in banks of tidal link occurred and spread in fertile land of Badin and Thatta districts.
He said that protests continued against faulty design of the drain in Badin, Thatta and other towns.
He said that previous governments did not pay any heed and compelled people of the district to pay price of their lives and properties.
He said that the government was trying to get LBOD redesigned to correct directions and it might be linked with Dhoro-Naro Puran— the former river of natural flow.
He said that there was no reason of delay in redesigning work of LBOD after confirmation of defective design of the drain and huge losses to people.
