MUZAFFARGARH, Jan 16: The Irrigation Department and construction companies are putting blame on each other for a breach in an embankment at the Taunsa Barrage on Indus river.

Work on the Taunsa Barrage Remodelling Project was disrupted on Monday evening when a 90-feet breach developed in the embankment that swept away another embankment, workers and machinery. The loss of machinery was estimated at Rs3 billion and a lot of machinery was still trapped in water on Tuesday.

The breach sent alarm bells among farmers in the DG Khan Canal command area who have already been hit hard due to the closure of the canal. Now they apprehend more delay in water releases which may destroy their standing crops. The canal irrigates a vast area in the districts of Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur.

The construction companies working on the project had erected the two temporary embankments on the north-east of the barrage to stop the water flow.

Irrigation Department official Chaudhry Akhtar told Dawn that Descon and other construction companies were responsible for the damage. He said that they had informed the contactors a month ago that the DG Khan Canal would open on Jan 16, so they should make necessary arrangements for the water discharge. He said they had also asked the companies to erect extra safety sheets for the embankments. According to him, the constructors were to build the embankment that could control 125,000 cusecs of water. At the time of the breach, however, the water flow was just 22,000 cusecs, he said, adding that the companies had used substandard material in the construction of the embankments. When Dawn asked why the Irrigation Department had not checked the use of substandard material, he said that they would launch an inquiry into the matter.

Descon representative Captain Hamayun Sajid told Dawn that the Irrigation Department was responsible for the damage at the Taunsa Barrage. He said the water level had increased in the river but the department did not inform them about it. He said the initial estimates put the loss at Rs3 billion.

The constructors were trying to plug the breach and till the filing of the report, 45 feet gap had been filled.

Fazal Lund, a local landlord, alleged construction companies and Irrigation Department had embezzled millions and wanted to hide it. He said the officials were ordered to release water into the DG Canal on Jan 16. But they were not ready for it as heaps of sand and mud were lying in the gates of the barrage. He said that the companies would not be able to complete the job in time which would cause huge losses to the farmers of south Punjab.

Irrigation Department SDO Rana Afzal said that after the breach it seemed “we are again at the zero point of the rehabilitation project”.

The Taunsa Barrage Rehabilitation Project was launched on May 10, 2005, and was to be completed in 36 months. However, the major work was planned to be completed in the first two years. The barrage was to hold a 4,300ft long subsidiary weir and the downstream of the existing barrage was to raise the tail water level and ensure proper energy dissipation at high river flows. The project also includes the repair of the barrage floor by removing weak concrete and replacing it with a new layer of concrete, and grouting to seal joints and fill voids in the foundation.

The project will also ensure sediment mitigation measures for the DG Khan canal at the right bank by constructing a silt excluder and remodelling of the head regulator. Under the project, a safety monitoring system will be installed by placing some critical monitoring instruments in the barrage and its foundation.

Dera Ghazi Khan correspondent adds: A high level inquiry committee has been constituted by the provincial government to investigate the cause of the breach.

The breach caused heavy losses to construction companies - Descon and Tori Moto. A spokesperson of the construction companies claimed the Irrigation Department did not inform them in time about the rise in water level at the barrage. He maintained that the authorities could discharge the extra water into Thal and Muzaffargarh Canals to save the embankment and on-going construction work.