HYDERABAD, Dec 7: District Nazim Kanwar Naveed Jamil has constituted a committee, headed by water technologist Dr Aqleem, to examine and evaluate the quality of water of Manchhar Lake and River Indus up and downstream Sehwan and to determine the causes of deterioration.

The committee was constituted at a meeting on release of lake water into the river here on Friday. The nazim directed the water technologist to submit a report, including remedial recommendations, in a week.

He made it clear that without implementation of recommendations of the committee, water discharge from the lake into the river would not be allowed.

The nazim directed Dr Aqleem to take a team of experts from the Water and Sewerage Authority and irrigation department with him and take samples of water from the lake and the river up and downstream Sehwan, particularly from Sukkur Barrage, examine the same and prepare a detailed report so that a decision on discharge of the lake water into the river could be taken.

Mr Jamil said that keeping in view the right of the people of Hyderabad and lower Sindh to get safe drinking water, the district government was monitoring water quality of the river after every four hours regularly and it had been informed that the quality of river water was continuously deteriorating even when water discharge from Manchhar had been suspended.

He said that it indicated that something was wrong in the flow of Indus either upstream or downstream Sehwan and added that in such a situation, discharge of Manchhar water into the river would not be advisable until the causes of deterioration of quality of the river water were not detected and eliminated.

He said that previously when the discharge from the lake into Indus created a hazardous situation in Hyderabad, a decision was taken that 1,000 cusecs from Manchhar would be discharged against safe flow of 50,000 cusecs in the river at Sehwan but, at that time, the quality of river water was safe as compared to its present quality.

He quoted the example of an increase of mercury level in the water of Indus even when the discharge from the lake into river had been stopped. He said that in such a situation the ratio of water discharge from Manchhar Lake needed to be examined and evaluated again.

He said that at present Manchhar water level was reported as 112.15 feet that, according to the authorities concerned, was two feet below the danger level. As such the Hyderabad district government and Sindh irrigation department had sufficient time to take an appropriate decision to ensure supply of safe drinking water to the people of Hyderabad and lower Sindh, he added.