HYDERABAD, Jan 12: Sindh Minister for Irrigation Nadir Akmal Khan Leghari has assured that Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) will not prove to be a repeat of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), which has so far done more harm than help.

The minister said while responding to reporters at the local press club on Thursday that the LBOD’s study was in last stages and the drain after completion would solve the issue of sea intrusion.

Asked if the RBOD which carries Punjab’s effluent to the sea will not be a repeat of the LBOD, he assured that it would not be so because the project was being executed by Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and all its aspects had been taken care of.

He said that the issue of land acquisition for the project was causing some problems but the government had now appointed a land acquisition officer (LAO) to solve the problem.

With the completion of RBOD II and III the problem of Manchhar Lake pollution would automatically be solved once and for all, he said and added that safety of the lake’s embankments had been ensured through gradual discharge of lake’s water into River Indus.

About LBOD he said that the drain’s study would be completed after consultants were taken onboard.

The drain’s capacity would be improved in stage-II after redesigning. "It is being done given the fact that it has to carry effluent of three to four districts up to sea," he said adding that other natural drains would also be connected with it.