THIS is with reference to the article ‘Irrigation improvements carry on’ (B&F, Feb 24) regarding the replacement of Sukkur barrage’s gates and increase in their height from 21 to 23 feet. Last year, one of its gates crashed and it was a catastrophic failure. Luckily, we were saved. This is probably the biggest barrage in the world with seven irrigation canals. Its gates on the right bank seem to be affected the most.
I fell in love with this engineering marvel in 1964 when my father was posted in Rohri. I used to go to school in Sukkur by train, and watched this majestic barrage twice a day from Ayub Bridge and Lansdowne Bridge.
Later, I worked for a company in Daharki and Sukkur airport, and my visits were quite frequent. There was only one natural island, called Sadho Baila, between Ayub Bridge and Sukkur barrage. It housed a temple, and one could see devotees undertaking the pilgrimage.
Now if we go to Sukkur from Rohri using the barrage, we can see several silt islands appearing on the east bank. The island on the west side has grown massively and people have started cultivating wheat and other crops there.
This island’s size grows every time I see it. This blocks the inlet side of the river on the west side, and several gates near it have become inoperative.
The barrage was designed to give equal water to all the gates. Now, with several gates blocked, the remaining ones see more water. I have personally seen gates overflowing on different occasions. Due to this huge island on the west side of the river, the water flow to rice canal, Dadu canal and northwestern canal is restricted.
A dredger used to operate regularly, removing such silt mounds before they became islands between Guddu and Sukkur barrages till 1984.
It may be fair to assume that these islands started appearing after 1984. We can keep on changing the gates or increase their height, but, if the upstream is getting blocked with silt deposits, our efforts would go in vain.
Why can we not put in a dredger again, and clean these islands permanently?
S. Nayyar Iqbal Raza
Karachi
Published in Dawn, March 24th, 2025
