BADIN, June 20: Flood weary people of the district’s coastal area, especially those living near bund and low-lying areas close to the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), demanded on Wednesday that the drain’s water should be diverted to Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain (DPOD) to avert a repeat of breaches that had wreaked havoc in the area during last year’s heavy rains.

They advised to stop upstream flow of the drain and divert it towards DPOD because the mighty drain, its tidal link and Cholri weir had serious design faults, which had earlier led to sea intrusion. The seawater had turned the area’s ecology upside down and dealt a sever blow to people’s livelihood in Badin and southern Sindh, they said.

They demanded that the departments concerned should erect shelters at higher and safer places and adopt some structural measures before the calamities actually hit the area so that they could at least save their children during floods. A large number of people from coastal villages led by Faqir Natho Khan Lund, Bahadur Khan Lund and Qadir Bux arrived at the Shaikhani Ghari village near LBOD, when a team of journalists from Badin visited the drain to see whether any precautionary arrangements had been taken and the drain’s widening work had been done.

The villagers demanded assurance from the World Bank and other multilateral and bilateral donors that no harm would come to their lives, ecology and livelihood in future. They had played a key role in legitimating the LBOD project and thus shared responsibility for their suffering, they insisted.

“We are passing sleepless nights as the sword is hanging above our heads. We fear a repeat of another man-made calamity this year also as we usually face catastrophe during these months every year. We can only look up to God for safe passage of monsoon season,” said Master Natho Khan Lund, a poet and local historian.

He rued that area used to be green and grassy prior to excavation of drains and its lands grew best crops. The project which was aimed at reclaiming huge areas of 1.27 million acres turned into an environmental nightmare due to serious faults in its design.

It wrecked havoc with the area’s social, economic and environmental landscape with 111 species of birds, 46 wide fouls, 42 kinds of agricultural crops, 84 types of grasses and 31 varieties of valuable trees turning extinct and fertile lands becoming saline, he said.

“We have 100 acres of land but we are hardly able to cultivate four acres due to floods,” he said.

An elderly villager, Bahadur Khan Lund, said that the villagers were keeping a vigilant eye over the drain as they feared a repeat of breaches in the LBOD as a certainly. The government had no permanent solution for the flood victims and their future hanged in balance, they said.

The drain’s embankments had been eroded at several places and they had been further weakened when the contractors levelled them. Many outlets of field drains, which fell into the drain, were broken.

Amanullah Panhwar, a villager of Mithi-III, said that it would be beneficial for the growers if the drain’s embankments were widened and the drain could be advantageous for people pf the area if it was maintained properly. The remodelling and repair work of the drain was not carried out in a proper manner, he added.