LAHORE, April 23: A Punjab Irrigation and Power Department spokesman has said the construction of a 4,000-ft spur along the Indus River at the eastern side of Taunsa Barrage will begin soon.

A press release issued by the department on Monday stated the erosion along the Indus River was not a consequence of the Taunsa Barrage Emergency Rehabilitation and Modernisation Project. The spokesperson said erosion had started in July, 2005, whereas the project was launched in September, 2005, and land erosion by rivers was due to morphological changes.

The river changed its course by 300 feet but the erosion had retarded and currently the river was 4,000 feet from the Magassan Branch Canal.

Reacting to a news item carried by Dawn on April 22, the spokesperson said the department had carried out a survey of the area and proposed a project to the federal government for the reconstruction of the already existed spur. The department would invite tenders today (April 24) for the construction work.

The spokesperson said water logging along the Muzaffargarh Canal had been a consistent problem since its commissioning in 1956 and had nothing to do with the barrage project. The Muzaffargarh Canal was a non-perennial canal which irrigated 800,000 acres of Muzaffargarh district and had capacity of 8,300 cusecs, the press release said.

About a petrol pump set up in the middle of a drain, the press release said the pump did not choked drainage flow due to provision of pipes underneath the structure.

Under the Taunsa barrage project, 137 households were needed to relocate, added the spokesperson. The department built drains, roads, community latrines, paved streets and a mosque for the relocated households. The department also provided labourers and material to raise roofs of affected people’s houses. The support is in addition to Rs9.7 million compensation for the affected households.

The press release said rest of the households in the surroundings of the project area had not been affected by the project.

The department was providing facilities to the host community and 20 community latrines were being built for them, the press release said.

The spokesperson said local fishermen would be given fishing rights. Under the 1961 Fisheries Act, fishing rights were being auctioned to contractors who later employed local fishermen. The Punjab government would launch a project under which fishing rights would be given to the organisations of local fishermen. The spokesman said construction firm Descon had beefed up security of the project site after incidents of rioting by “miscreants”.