SUKKUR: The caisson gate No 47 that had detached from its arch and fallen into the Indus River on June 20 under mysterious circumstances, has been reinstalled.

While an inquiry team is yet to start its work to find out causes of the collapse of the gate No 47 and almost simultaneously damage to the gate No 44, senior engineers and their workforce, under the supervision of Chinese and local experts, worked day and night to lift up the approximately 35-tonne gate from deep water to fit it on its place. The work was completed at around 2am on Friday.

It was claimed that water was released into canals from the barrage gates soon after completion of the installation work. Water supply to all canals off-taking the barrage had been curtailed on June 20 to facilitate the repair and rehabilitation work.

According to barrage officials, construction of the cofferdam and installation of the caisson gate were carried out in the presence of Irrigation Secretary Zarif Khero, Sindh Barrages Improvement Project Director Ghulam Mohiuddin Mughal, Sukkur Barrage Chief Engineer Sohail Hameed Baloch and other senior officials.

According to media reports, a new gate would arrive at the barrage from the Karachi Shipyard & Engineering Work (KSEW) on July 20.

An improved flow of water into canals was observed on Friday morning and it was claimed in the evening that the “system has become fully operational”. The pond level of the barrage, according to officials, rose by about 18 inches within the last 24 hours. After upward trend in the pond level, irrigation water was added to the flows released into the canals.

It was stated that 9,.200 cusecs were being released into the Rice Canal, 2,000 cusecs into Dadu Canal and 3,900 cusecs into Khirther Canal from the right side of the barrage whereas 13,700 cusecs were being released into the Nara Canal, 1,050 cusecs into the Rohri Canal, 1,450 cusecs into the Khairpur East Canal and 1,250 cusecs into the Khairpur West Canal from the left side of the barrage.

Sources said that other gates, Nos 44, 48, 52, 53, and 54, had also been repaired as they were also damaged on June 20. The very next day, they added, the irrigation secretary had issued a notification appointing an inquiry team headed by Ghulam Mohiuddin Mughal with directives to complete the probe within the next five days and submit a report to him on how was the damage caused to the gates.

Sources said that the team was yet to even start its inquiry a week after the incident. Mr Mughal was heard saying that the probe might take six to 10 days to complete.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2024