SUKKUR, Feb 10: Sindh Chief Secretary Aslam Sanjrani attended a briefing on the rehabilitation of Sukkur Barrage here on Thursday.

He was told by the commander of the FWO Task Force, Brig Javed Ashraf Bajwa, that the work would be completed by its deadline of April 15.

Talking to newsmen after the briefing, Mr Sanjrani praised the gallant work done by the FWO for the Sukkur Barrage. He said the barrage was the backbone of country's agro-economy as its seven canals supplied water for more than 10 million acres lands of Sindh and Balochistan.

He defended the decision of entrusting the rehabilitation work to army engineers because the Sindh Irrigation Department had no required expertise and technology.

The chief secretary described the Sukkur Barrage as a marvellous asset of the country and viewed that any damage to it would have created catastrophic situation not only for Sindh but also for the country.

He said maximum attention was being paid by the government to maintain a high quality of work in the rehabilitation of the arrange. He said he was highly impressed with achievements so far by the FWO Task Force as were placed before him in briefing by Brig Javed Ashraf Bajwa.

Earlier, Bajwa in his briefing said the implementation of the entire plan was being done under the administrative and financial supervision of the deputy chairman planning commission and the rehabilitation cost was estimated to be Rs887 million. Of this the Sindh government had committed to contribute 15 per cent and the remaining would be contributed by the federal government.

He said the work of the Ruk complex of the Dadu canal was completed on Jan 15. He said other works like sheet piling, dredging, and cofferdams, all of them were completed ahead of the schedule.

The commander of the FWO Task Force said they had been asked by the irrigation authorities to raise the 5th span of the Dadu canal in order to enhance its discharge capacity during rice crop season which was not included in our original plan.

He said they were working according to advise of consultants and irrigations experts and when the work would be completed, the barrage would handing over to irrigation authorities.

He said after including fifth span in the Dadu canal, water discharge would be increased and at a little distance there was a railway bridge under which water passes through with difficulty and after increased discharge.