RAHIM YAR KHAN: Hundreds of acres of the agricultural land and crops have been damaged in many bastis of Rahim Yar Khan and Khanpur because the Indus River has started eroding the land.

Residents of Basti Jam Hayyat Muhammad, Mud Aadil, Basti Ghaleja of Chachran Sharif and Mauza Kuddan area had to vacate homes during last month as the river water started damaging their houses and agricultural fields after eroding the land.

The residents of Basti Ghaleja told this correspondent that the water of the river Indus had started eroding the land of their basti a few weeks ago and their crops had submerged in the water. The water damaged the houses and now they were planning to shift their belongings to a safer place.

Another resident of the area, Muhammad Imran Ahmed said that after the completion of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed bridge at Chachran Sharif, the irrigation department constructed guide walls with heavy stones to protect the bridge. After this practice the flow of river water increased and led to erosion.

He said that due to increased erosion, the local population will face more losses if steps are not taken to solve the issues.

He said people of the area had complained to the irrigation officials but to no avail.

A civil activist of the area, Ismail Ghaleja said the people of the area had demanded many times that the local parliamentarians come up with a permanent solution to the problem but none of them has taken any step in this regard.

RYK Senior Engineer Irrigation Munir Anjum Baloch did not attend the repeated calls and text message.

Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2020