SUKKUR, May 23: The flow of water at the Sukkur barrage has improved substantially and the authorities have released about 14,000 cusecs for the Kotri barrage. This was stated by the superintending engineer of the Sukkur Barrage, Arshad Khawaja, in a press briefing at his office on Saturday.

He said that the release of fresh water in sufficient quantity from the upstream had brightened the prospects for the cotton crop mainly grown in Khairpur, Nawabshah and Sanghar districts.

Mr Khawaja attributed the improvement mainly to high-grade ice melting and unhindered water flow from upstream and hoped that the situation was likely to further improve in the next fortnight.

He indicated that about 20,000 cusecs water would be released from the Sukkur barrage for the Kotri Barrage from May 24. Mr Khawaja was of the view that crisis period was now almost over as water to right and left bank canals would be supplied according to their discharge capacity.

He said that it was not true that the barrage gates had been closed. He said that the real position was that the gate closing system was operated for regulating water supply in canals. "Gates are daily pulled up and brought down according to technical requirements", he said.

He said that 11 gates of the Sukkur barrage had permanently been closed since 1951 because the experts had redesigned the discharge capacity of the barrage and its seven canals as per the actual needs.

He said that the decision of permanent closure of 11 gates was necessitated in view of sedimentation in the NW canal and Dadu canal after which these canals have never accumulated silt in their bed.