MUZAFFARGARH: The water level in the Indus has risen as a 200-foot breach occurred in the safety dam despite the fact that a sum of Rs500 million has been spent on its construction.

Deputy Commissioner Syed Munawar Abbas Bukhari said 1,700 residents from three villages were evacuated before the breach, although more than 150 houses are expected to be severely affected. The breach has led to medium-level flooding at the Head Taunsa Barrage on the Indus River.

The protective dam, which was recently constructed at a cost of Rs500 million to prevent erosion by the Indus, was completely washed away by the river.

Local authorities stated that irrigation officials were on-site, attempting to control the situation by throwing stones into the river. However, local residents allege that hundreds of houses have already been washed away due to the breach in the safety dam at Basti Khullangwala.

Threat of severe erosion looms large

Residents of the affected river belt area claim that the dam’s failure was due to the negligence and poor strategy of the irrigation department.

Kot Addu Deputy Commissioner Syed Munawar Abbas Bukhari acknowledged receiving complaints about the dam’s construction and claimed that the administration had evacuated populated areas at risk. When contacted, EXEN Head Taunsa Barrage was not available for comments.

Already a few days back a 300-foot breach occurred at J head spur at RD 34, while the area was evacuated by administration.

Malik Khadim Hussain Khar, a representative of Sindho Bachao Tarla from the affected area, stated that he plans to take the matter to court and the FIA, demanding an inquiry into the breach and the millions spent on the project.

According to a report by the DC, severe erosion began 200 feet upstream of the truncated portion of J-Head Spur RD 34+000. Despite ongoing efforts to dump stones and stabilise the area, the spur breached, now measuring 250-foot wide. Fortunately, the river flow has begun to return to its main course after passing through the second bisected portion, with the current discharge at Taunsa Barrage recorded at 367,762 cusecs upstream and 343,262 cusecs downstream. These flows are expected to remain within this range for the next 15 days.

The DC assured that the population under threat has been fully evacuated and that there is no immediate risk of inundation, though the threat of severe erosion is there.

Meanwhile, heavy rain continued in Muzaffargarh and PDMA has issued an alert regarding the monsoon rains. In Chenab, the inflow of water at Head Panjnad was 51,000 cusecs, while the discharge is 39,000 cusecs.

On the other hand, the inflow of water at Head Taunsa in the Indus River is 354,000 cusecs, while the discharge was 3,27,000 cusecs.

In the next few days, the risk of high water level and threat of severe river erosion will remain.

Published in Dawn, August 18th, 2024