HYDERABAD, Dec 31: Sindh Irrigation Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has expressed reservations about design of the Right Bank Outfall Drain-II (RBOD) and said that he needs to satisfy himself before seeking funds for the project aimed at rehabilitating the Manchhar Lake.

The lake has become dangerously contaminated due to release of effluent from upper Sindh over the years through Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain, also known as RBOD-I. Besides, the sources said that funds for the federally-funded project had been slashed.

“I need to satisfy myself first about outfall design of RBOD-II because there should not be a repeat of the LBOD this time. I need to make sure that the lake has been rehabilitated,” the minister said here the other day.

Mr Shah has recently taken over charge of irrigation ministry from Jam Saifullah Dharejo and plans to hold a meeting with the consultant of the project being executed by Frontier Works Organisation.

“I have to write to the federal government but before I do that I must satisfy myself about the drain’s design at its outfall. “I visited the drain’s site soon after I was given irrigation’s portfolio,” he said, adding that he would take as little time as possible so that the lake’s rehabilitation process could begin at the earliest.

An official on RBOD-II told Dawn on Wednesday that out of Rs1 billion that were to be released as first instalment of current fiscal year, only Rs600 million had been released. “Release of funds has been confirmed but funds are yet to be made available,” he said.

He confirmed that a presentation would be made before the irrigation minister on the outfall design of the project in question. The RBOD-II was first scheduled to be completed by Jan 1, 2006 but then its date was extended till December 2009.

It seems that the date will have to be put back again if current pace of release of funds continues. Sources on the project said that Rs2.5 billion funds had been withheld in September, which were to be made available in April 2008.

Initially, the 273-kilometre drain was designed to take 2,271 cusec of saline water but later its project cost (PC-I) was revised and now it would be able to carry 3,500 cusec to the sea at Gharo in Thatta district. Its cost now stands at Rs29.12 billion.

Reports say the capacity of RBOD network has been revised and now RBOD-I, the only cause of destruction of the freshwater lake, can also carry 3,500 cusec, which was earlier designed to carry just 1,500 cusec.

“I possess a document that proves that MNV’s capacity has been increased to 3,500 cusec from 1,500, which means more pollution in the lake in case flow of effluent increases in the drain,” said Dr. Ahsan Siddiqui, the Hyderabad district government’s water technologist who had been working on Manchhar Lake rehabilitation for quite some time. “Its (MNV) depth has also been increased to 140 foot from 70 foot,” Siddiqui said.

The RBOD-II was to carry effluent of upper Sindh but in the course of the revision of its PC-I it was decided that now wastewater from Balochistan would also be diverted to the RBOD-II through RBOD-I (MNV).

RBOD-II is being dug from Deh Karampur in Sehwan taluka of Jamshoro up to Gharo in Thatta district, which is its culmination point.

A noted environmentalist, Naseer Memon, said that the PC-I of the whole RBOD network had been revised during Mir Zafarullah Jamali government without taking concerned forums on board. “RBOD’s environmental impact assessment doesn’t address relevant points,” he said.

Due to constant discharge of effluent into the lake, its level continues to rise and often attains dangerous proportions, forcing irrigation authorities to discharge its water into the River Indus off and on.

The increasing contamination in the lake water has badly affected the livelihood of fishermen who depend on the lake while release of lake water into the Indus poses serious threat to people’s health who consume its water.