SUKKUR: Officials of the Sindh Barrage Improvement Project (SBIP) informed Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro at a briefing at the project site here on Thursday that desilting of Rice Canal had almost been completed.

A spokesman for the project — part of the Sukkur and Guddu barrages modernisation programme — said in a press release that Irrigation Mr Shoro and Secretary of his department Zarif Khero, along with chief engineers and other officials of the two barrages and consultants concerned, inspected the desilting work from RD-4 to 17 and expressed their satisfaction over the work.

Rice Canal irrigates more than 481,000 acres across Larkana, Dadu and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts. It offtakes from upstream right side of Sukkur Barrage. It is a non-perennial canal that supplies irrigation water to growers only in Kharif season, i.e. from May to October, to cultivate paddy crop. The canal’s total length is 81.6 miles and it was built with a designed capacity of 13,581 cusecs.

According to SBIP Director Ghulam Mohiuddin Mughal, now when the desilting work has almost been completed, growers will receive irrigation water through Rice Canal without any hindrances as the chronic issue to inadequate supplies and blockages resulting in lesser or no supplies during Kharif season stands resolved once and for all.

He noted that accumulation of silt all across the course of the canal over decades had drastically reduced its capacity. He said that the Warah branch, which had originally been drawing supplies from N.W (Khirthar) Canal, had been connected with Rice Canal at Ruk Complex (RD 82+400 cross regulator upstream side) for supporting supplies since 1990-91.

Briefing the minister, he recalled that a feasibility study was carried out in 2013-14 for the rehabilitation and modernisation of Sukkur Barrage and eventually the work was started in February last year. The contract to desilt the canal from RD-0 to RD-82+400 was awarded through international bidding and the work was started on Dec 11, 2023. The completion date was April 30, 2024.

Mr Mughal said the work has been completed, barring desilting of RD-82+400 to RD92+600 and RD-0 to RD-4 Warah branch.

“Additional work has been started at the request of chief engineer of Sukkur Barrage’s right bank region at Larkana. This will also be completed by May 15,” he added.

The SBIP director told the minister that “restoration of the canal’s designed parameters to improve flows was a challenge, which has been met”. So many dewatering pumps had been used to dry the canal’s bed while men and machineries were employed to stop seepage and plug inlets of silts.

The officials who attended the briefing included Chief Engineer Suhail Hameed Baloch of the Sukkur Barrage, left bank region at Sukkur and Chief Engineer Mukhtiar Ahmed Abro of the Sukkur Barrage’s right bank region at Larkana, besides foreign consultants of the project.

Published in Dawn, May 10th, 2024