TOBA TEK SINGH: A feasibility report by the National Engineering Services of Pakistan and two private consultant companies on the proposed brick-lining of Trimmu-Sidhnai (TS) link canal has estimated the project cost at Rs7 billion.

It says the gross area affected with water logging due to the seepage of water from the canal banks is 129,239 acres.

The report recommended that besides the lining of 120,000-foot long canal and the construction of drains along either side of the canal, 310 drainage tubewells be installed to drain water.

It also proposed construction of a parallel channel with a 6,500 cusec capacity on the left side of TS link canal to lower the water level. The report adds that as a result of brick lining, 550 cusecs of water will be saved which is wasted in seepage.

The report was prepared on the directions of Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The report reads that due to the water logging, water has accumulated in the form of stagnant pond which serves as a breeding ground for mosquitoes, resulting in various vector diseases like malaria and dengue while humidity causes rashes on skin like skin allergy.

The report added foul odor of the stagnant water was also a source of air pollution while in rainy season the situation became even worse and people had to move to other areas.

Another fact mentioned in the report is that agricultural land has become uncultivable due to water logging. Many people of the area have migrated to other areas and the people of villages along the canal have migrated in masses. The continuous seepage of canal water has impacted agriculture activities because farmers cannot sow any crop due to standing water. If they sow any crop, given the sporadic relief from water logging due to lowering canal water level, the crop is spoiled before the harvest stage as the water logging weakens it.

The report also mentioned that buildings were also affected in the area due to water logging and foundations of the buildings remained subject to continuous decay that led to their ultimate collapse.

It said that of the 10,744 acres, most had been abandoned as no crop could survive in the area, while 55,650 acres grew low yield crops. The affected areas were in Shorkot, Kabirwala, Pirmahal, Khanewal and Toba Tek Singh. The fodder shortage for animals had forced the farmers to rely on their damaged wheat crop to feed their animals.

Animals remained malnourished most of the time and thus their milk and meat productivity was lower than that of the other areas.

Pirmahal Farmers’ Association president Chaudhry Shafqat Rasool said Rs3 billion, of the estimated Rs7 billion, could be saved if the construction of two drains on both sides of canal was dropped. He added that report proposed installation of 310 tubewells but the seepage could be controlled with brick lining only and tubewells were not needed. He said when a delegation of affected farmers had met the then Punjab irrigation secretary Rab Nawaz Bharwana about a year ago, he had agreed with them that an alternate channel’s construction was not necessary before the start of brick lining of the canal as the water supply in the canal could be supplied through Khanki-Balloki-Ravi-Sidhnai route or through Qadirabad-Balloki-Ravi-Sidhnai route.

PML-N MPA Mian Muhammad Rafiq who had led various protest rallies of the affected farmers of his constituency and had raised voice on Punjab assembly floor, told Dawn he had requested the chief minister to allocate funds for brick lining in the annual development programme of the Punjab budget of 2015-16.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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