HYDERABAD: The Water and Power Dev­elop­ment Authority (Wapda) has conceived the project of Sindh Barrage downstream Kotri Barrage to develop a reservoir by constructing a structure on the Indus to help resolve the province’s perennial water issues, including sea intrusion.

Prime Minister Imran Khan has given a go-ahead to Wapda to start feasibility for the project, according to sources. After conceptual study, Wapda is examining the nature of struc­ture whether it could be a weir, a dam or a barrage and that is why it plans to carry out its feasibility and have it vetted through foreign consultants.

The project is planned at a location of 37-40km upstream from the sea or 160km downstream Kotri Barrage, the river’s last controlling point, at the confluence of river and sea.

Wapda hierarchy has been working on it silently as it thinks Sindh government faces capacity issues but Wapda will be ready to support the latter if need be.

“Of course, we are ready to support Sindh government if they want our collaboration or assistance,” Wapda chairman retired Lieute­nant Gen Muzammil told Dawn over phone from Lahore.

“I believe a new civilisation will be born in that area over next 50 years if this multi­dimensional project is executed,” he remarked.

‘Equation reversed’

“We have reversed the equation of building barrage [over Indus] from up north to down­stream Indus in south,” he said.

According to the chairman, “the project will prove to be more important than K-IV project in catering to water needs of the provincial capital’s increasing population,” he said and added “we will build protective bunds between right and left bank dykes of Indus to check [sea] intrusion. It will create a lake which will have a storage capacity double the gross capacity of Mohmand dam”.

The project aims to improve marine life, area’s ecology and check land erosion in deltaic region. Indus is said to be the world’s seventh largest delta. Sea intrusion has been a perennial problem for Sindh’s coastal areas of Thatta, Sujawal and Badin from where roughly 1.2 million people have migrated to other areas over last few decades because of a breakdown of agri-economy.

As a result, poverty has struck the deltaic areas that used to be rich in resources. Intruding sea has devoured millions of acres of fertile land over the past two to three decades. Different figures are quoted in this context like two to 2.8m acres as having been swallowed by the sea.

A noted expert of hydrology Dr Hassan Abbas had claimed during a visit to Hyderabad that “satellite images dating to the period between 1984 and 2016 showed that 24 acres a day are being devoured by sea and 67 acres a day remain under seasonal tide which is in fact not fit for agriculture”.

No authentic data

An authenticated data as to loss of fertile agriculture land eludes experts and perhaps that is the reason the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) in collaboration with Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, Suparco and Pakistan Navy had conceived a Rs650m project titled ‘Monitoring of seawater intrusion along Pakistan coast (Balochistan/Sindh)’ in 2015.

“The project was okayed by Central Development Working Party but then it hit snags as the federal government did not grant its administrative approval,” former NIO director general Asif Inam told Dawn.

He had started working on it a couple of years back. “While sea level is rising due to climate change the delta is subsiding due to compaction of sediments and the phenomenon varies in Thatta, Badin and Karachi,” he said.

The Sindh government seems to be pursuing an identical project for Indus delta with multiple components.

A scheme, ‘Procurement of consultancy services for feasibility study of ‘Delta Barrage’ with off-taking canals, creation of lakes/reservoir and revival of ecosystem in coastal area’, has been conceived by Sindh government, according to sources.

It is reflected in annual development pro­gramme (ADP) 2019-20 and government noti­fied an eight-member committee — headed by Wali Mohammad Naich, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) managing director — to prepare and submit project cost-II.

The committee formed on July 2 has repre­sen­tation of Sindh Chamber of Agriculture (SCA), Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB) and Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF).

“Let the federal government support us if it is interested in it. We have been working on it for last several years and in this connection a number of briefings were given to relevant Senate standing committee headed by Dr Karim Khwaja on the project’s concept.

We plan to stop sea intrusion, supply water to Karachi, Badin, Tharparkar and store close to 3MAF water,” said CM’s special assistant on irrigation Ashfaq Memon.

Memon is a retired civil servant who served as secretary of irrigation in early 2000 and was part of the study by international panel of experts on release of flows downstream Kotri.

The downstream flows have been a persistent demand by experts and population that lives in the delta for the growth of mangroves, fish, shrimps, palla and other species and above all for sustaining the delta’s ecosystem.

Keharan jo Kolryoon is said to be the location in Thatta where government has found a narrow space in Indus for raising the structure. Sindh government believes the reservoir can store 2.5MAF water downstream Kotri during floods. Depending on the needs it might be usable for seven months or so in the barrage-cum-reservoir project to help convert brackish groundwater into sweet water.

Among its components, says Ashfaq Memon, are two canals with 2,000 cusecs discharge each initially on right and left side of the river to take water to Bhambhore and Thar.

After Bhambhore it can go up to Karachi and on left side it will cross Badin before reaching Thar and then ending up somewhere or in Sir Creek.

The project aims to convert brackish groundwater into sweet water aquifer.

The other part of the project, remarks the official, is “open area” for the development of “world-class sea entertainment” to boost economic activities. The area would be connected with roads that would run parallel to coastline, he disclosed.

The Sindh government intends to ensure additional water supplies to Karachi through the project. Currently, Karachi gets water through Kotri Barrage’s right bank Kalri-Baghar feeder. Around 1,200 cusecs has to be necessarily provided to Karachi through K.B. feeder even during water shortage.

It has been a consistent demand of Sindh that Karachi should get 2,400 cusec from “national pool” as it hosts populations from across the country thus Sindh must get water over and above its allocated share — 14.82MAF in Rabi and 33.94 MAF in Kharif — under Water Apportionment Accord 1991. During shortage, water is drawn from other canals of Kotri Barrage to meet Karachi’s requirement.

The project addresses sea intrusion, recharge of groundwater aquifer and revival of ecology of Indus delta, a declared Ramsar site, but without consulting stakeholders like agriculturists, fishermen and water experts it may not be advisable to embark upon it.

The stakeholders’ experiences with other federally-funded projects like Nai Gaj Dam, Left Bank Outfall Drain, Right Bank Outfall Drain and Darawat Dam are not good. RBOD-II funded by federal government is being executed by Sindh government.

When Pervez Musharraf had launched it in 2001 it was slated to be completed by January 2006, yet since then work on it continues. Nai Gaj was to be completed in 2015 and now federal government is asking provincial gov­ern­ment to share its cost.

“Our confidence in executing agencies too has shattered. When we are unable to manage our existing structure we are conceding newer ones. Stakeholders should discuss the project threadbare as it involves huge costs,” pointed out SAB vice president Mahmood Nawaz Shah. Having said that, he concluded, SAB would still need to understand what this project was all about.

Delta barrage or Sindh barrage are bound to raise eyebrows if the much-needed consultation is avoided and the project is thrust upon people.

Member of the Sindh government’s comm­ittee on the delta barrage and fishermen’s leader Mohammad Ali Shah says: “It is a false solution for revival of Indus delta. You need to keep the river flows unhindered as delta means free flows of rivers”.

He believes the water thus stored will be provided to Bahria Town.

“The river brings silt deposits to the delta which are blocked by barrages and now the remainder of it will be stopped by Sindh or delta barrage,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, August 17th, 2019