DADU: Nai Gaaj Nullah, a natural rainwater drain, is flowing to the brim in the wake of heavy rains in its catchment area in the Khirthar mountain range, causing the drain level to rise to as high as 15 feet as of Thursday.

The swollen drain has cut off land link of 300 big and small villages with Johi and Khairpur Nathan Shah talukas in the Kachho belt. This is the fourth time over the past 20 days of intermittent rain that the drain’s level has fluctuated between 14 feet to 17 feet.

The rainwater is fast moving towards flood protective dyke and flowing into the Manchhar Lake at zero point, causing the lake’s level to rise to 109.20 feet RL (reduced level) as of Thursday.

Superintendent engineer of Dadu southern circle, Sajid Hussain Bhutto, who visited the drain’s zero point and flood protective dyke near Johi town along with a team of officials of irrigation department, told Dawn that Nai Gaaj was flowing into the lake. The maximum level of lake water was 117 feet and so far the situation was normal, he said.

He said that check-posts had been set up along the dyke after every mile to monitor the drain’s level which was so far normal along the dyke.

Sukkur Barrage chief engineer Aijaz Shaikh told Hyderabad Commissioner Saeed Ahmed Magnijo during a briefing in Sehwan that water level downstream of Sukkur Barrage was 152,000 cusecs.

He said that the river level was 124 feet at Dadu-Moro bridge. When water level reached 126 feet and 127 feet at the bridge then the water started touching the Larkana-Sehwan (LS) dyke at some places.

SE irrigation Dadu, Sajid Ali Bhutto, told the commissioner that camps had been established after every two miles near vulnerable points along the LS dyke to keep watch over river level and flood fighting material had been made available at all camps.

Published in Dawn, July 28th, 2017