SUKKUR, May 25: An 11-member technical team from the Taunsa Barrage arrived in Sukkur on Wednesday to conduct a survey regarding the upstream and downstream strength of the water flow of the Sukkur Barrage. The team consists of experts, engineers and Daroghas.

Reliable sources said that 15 to 22 feet of silt was covering the spans of the barrage due to which difficulties were being experienced by the team.

They said that they had to pass an iron rod up to the floor of the barrage to ascertain its strength.

They said that the work could take four to five months to complete.

The project director, consultant company, Noor Mohammad Baloch, confirming about the thick layer of silt covering the spans said that due to the silt the survey team was experiencing difficulties but there was no other way to ascertain its strength.

On the other hand, the coffer dams constructed at the downstream and upstream of spans 1 to 5 of Sukkur Barrage for carrying out rehabilitation work have been removed from the downstream, while work on removal of the coffer dams at upstream was going on and 80 per cent of the work had been completed so far.

In the meantime, following the removal of coffer dams from the upstream the water had started flowing smoothly under the spans.