A NUMBER of development projects with a focus on the Nara Canal of Sukkur barrage are being carried out by the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority to improve water supply to farmlands though with some hiccups for the growers.

Four of the 14 main canals emanating from three provincial barrages have been handed over to the authority (SIDA) and the rest are managed by the Sindh irrigation department. The major works in Nara Canal include: construction of fall structure on upper Nara at RD550; rehabilitation of Ranto Canal; reconstruction of Old Jamrao Canal head regulator; reconstruction of lower Nara Canal head regulator; rehabilitation of Makhi Complex and remodelling of Khipro Canal etc.

On-going works in the left bank canals are being executed at a cost of Rs2,859m; Rs2,989m will be spent on the Ghotki Feeder and Rs3578m on the Mithrao Canal. Cost of development works in the lower Nara and Makhi Complex are estimated at Rs7,474m and Rs2,479m respectively.

The upgradation projects include: Ghotki Feeder of Guddu Barrage, Phulelli and Akram of Kotri Barrage and Mithrao of Nara Canal System. According to a SIDA spokesman, 30pc progress has been achieved in the left bank canals and Ghotki Feeder canal while work is a bit slow in Mithrao canal. Nara canal feeds farms right upto Sanghar and Mirpurkhas districts.

Mahmood Nawaz Shah feels that an independent assessment of all these works is necessary to know how effectively the system has really been improved and whether the water supplies have indeed been ensured

Sindh Abadgar Board President Abdul Majeed Nizamani says that projects completed by the SIDA have improved water availability to tail enders.

But some farmers complain water shortages still persist.

They say some engineering works are adversely affecting water supply to farms.

Murad Nizamani — a grower from Sanghar — points out that Nara canal is taking lesser water flows at some points, as it accumulates silt.

The SIDA has set up farmers’ participatory organisations (FOs) to manage of the canal systems. But farmers’ representative Mahmood Nawaz Shah claims that usually selection is preferred over election in the farmers’ body.

Water theft, admitted a SIDA officer, has not come to an end in SIDA controlled areas.

He, however, mentioned that in case of Khipro Canal, protests against water shortage have now died down. He also said issues in maintenance of these works are still a gray area.

A farmer-cum-member of the Left Bank Canals Area Water Board said unsettled administrative issues between irrigation department and the SIDA tended to fail the authority-run system.

Mahmood Nawaz Shah feels that an independent assessment of all these works is necessary to know how effectively the system has really been improved and whether the water supplies have indeed been ensured.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, January 23rd, 2017