GUJRAT: Three more spurs along the bank of the River Chenab in Gujrat tehsil have been found damaged, raising the number of damaged spurs to seven.

These damaged spurs need immediate repair before the rainy and flood season as residents of dozens of villages have urged the authorities to take practical steps in order to save their fertile land from further erosion.

The local administration has sought Rs460 million from the provincial government to get repaired the damaged spurs prior to the flood season.

It was reported in this newspaper around a week back that four major spurs -- Kolowal, Kot Patowan, Nutt Pindi Tataar and Samman Mohla -- had been damaged in the last flood.

The spur No 4 at Kolowal villages had been flushed by the river water up to some 1,200 feet as hundreds of acres of the cultivated land in these areas had been eroded into the river.

Sources in the Irrigation department said the spur No 8 (Shahbazpur) and two other spurs (Behlolpur and Shampur Khokharan near the Marala headworks) had also been damaged and needed an instant repair, but the department has no funds.

A team led by district flood relief officer Mian Iqbal Mazhar and officials of the local irrigation department visited the damaged spurs and reviewed the issue of getting repaired the damaged portions of spurs.

The irrigation department has prepared a cost estimation of repairs of these spurs, seeking Rs460 million from the district government for the purpose.

The cost estimation has also been sent to the chief engineer irrigation for the formal approval.

Published in Dawn, April 18th, 2015

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