BAHAWALPUR: The ‘abrupt arrival’ of water in the dried-up Sutlej river sent a wave of jubilation among the locals who celebrated the occasion.

As the news of the unexpected flow of water in the dried-up bed of Sutlej broke on Saturday night, a good number of people thronged the Empress Railway bridge over the river. People threw rose petals on the flowing water and a group of youngsters performed jhoomar.

The river remains dry most part of the year and is locally called a “sand river.”

A civil society activist, Akram Nasir, expressed his happiness over the flow of water in the river. He said the inflow had been seen after several years.

He said the erstwhile rulers agreed on the Indus Waters Treaty which made Seraiki Waseb a barren area due to water scarcity. He demanded that the current government take measures to supply water to the dried-up river to meet the growing demands of irrigation in the region.

Local politicians, especially those demanding separate provincial status for Bahawalpur, had several times during the previous years staged demonstrations in the riverbed asking for maintenance of the river.

EXEN Irrigation Liaquat Ali expressed his surprise over the flow of water in the river, saying India had not released water in the Sutlej. Had it been so, the water from Indian side would have reached Ganda Singhwala Headworks and then travelled to Sulemanki Headworks and Islam Headworks near Vehari before reaching near Bahawalpur.

“The water spillways (gates) at Sulemanki and Islam headworks may have been opened for the passage of the excess water which has travelled up to Bahawalpur Empress bridge leading to the further flow of the water in the river,” he said. He said it would be beneficial for the crops.

PLANTATION: Deputy Commissioner Shozeb Saeed on Sunday inaugurated ‘Plant for Pakistan’ campaign.

The DC, along with other officials and children, planted saplings on the premises of the Child Protection & Welfare Bureau on Yazman Road and later at the Government Technical High School.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2019