HYDERABAD: The irrigation authorities have completed desilting of the North Western Canal (NWC) — one of the main right bank canals of Sukkur barrage that also supplies water to Balochistan — through its Garang regulator under interprovincial water distribution network.

The work was initiated at a cost of Rs150 million under directives of Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro. It was supervised by Sukkur Barrage chief engineer for left bank canals Sardar Shah.

Silt was extracted from a stretch of around 16.5 miles or from RD-0 to RD-82.5 (from head regulator of the NWC to the Ruk Complex). A flow of 1,000 cusecs was released into the NWC at 6am on Friday.

In water shortage periods, the right bank areas in the interprovincial distribution network used to be the worst-hit. The command area of the NWC remains badly affected by the shortage during Kharif season. The situation is attributable to a variety of reasons, chiefly mismanagement of available flows.

Flow of 1,000 cusecs into NW Canal released today after eight years of shortage

The canal provides water to Balochistan at Garang regulator, located at RD-120, of the Khirthar Canal. Balochistan has been regularly accusing Sindh of denying its share in water flows through Khirthar Canal. It was the same NWC whose nomenclature gets changed at RD-180 to make it Khirthar Canal at KBH (Khirthar Branch Head) regulator.

A visit to the NWC last year revealed that illegal pipes were attached to the left and right banks of the NWC/Khirthar Canal. These pipes supply water to lands on two sides of its banks although the command area was to be supplied water through Begari feeder, a right bank canal of Guddu Barrage and not the NWC.

NWC’s designed discharge is 9,600 cusecs and Warah’s 6,200 cusecs. With a designed discharge of 9,600 cusecs, the 31.4-mile-long NWC passes through Shikarpur and Jacobabad districts only to irrigate 305,579 acres area in Qambar.

“The recent work on the NWC is done after almost eight years. We hope that it may bring positive change in terms of water supply to the NWC/Khirthar Canal’s actual command area,” said Ishaq Mughairi, a right bank grower from Qambar-Shahdadkot district.

Not only the NWC, but Warah was another channel that faces chronic water shortage. Warah supplies water to parts of Warah, Madeji, Qambar and Miro Khan talukas in Qambar-Shahdadkot district which bears the brunt of water shortage during the summer season.

According to Jam Khan Shoro, the desilting drive would benefit tail-end areas and ensure improved supply to Balochistan. “But there is an idea that instead of feeding Warah through Rice Canal in summer, it should be fed by the NWC in both winter and summer crop season,” according to CE Sardar Shah. He said that the work had been satisfactorily done.

Published in Dawn, February 12th, 2022