HYDERABAD, May 5: Kotri Barrage chief engineer Manzoor Ahmad Shaikh has said water from the Manchhar Lake will be released into the River Indus from Friday afternoon to protect embankments of the lake. He was talking to Dawn by telephone on Thursday.
He said the committee which had to decide about the date and time and the quantum of water to be released from Manchhar into the Indus had recommended a ratio of 1:30 (1,000 cusecs of the Manchhar water to be mixed with 30,000 cusecs of the Indus). He, however, claimed that 40,000 cusecs of water was expected to reach the point of the river where the Manchhar water was to be released. He maintained that in this way, the ratio would become 1:40 which would further ensure safe quality of water.
He said 1,000 cusecs of water would be released from the lake daily to reduce its water level by four feet.
Mr Shaikh clarified that the lake water would not be released on Thursday but on Friday afternoon when a large quantity of water from the Sukkur Barrage would reach there.
When contact by telephone in Dadu, the assistant engineer of the flood protective bund of the lake, Habibullah Kabooro, said water flow in the Nai Gaaj had considerably reduced and it was flowing at one and a half feet.
Meanwhile, DCO Mohammad Hussain Syed, who is also the chairman of the committee on emergency response action for resolution of drinking water problem and health crises, directed the management of the Hyderabad Development Authority and the district health department to collect at least 10 samples of water from different parts of the water supply system of Hyderabad for laboratory tests so that any contamination or causes of contamination in drinking water could be detected. He said the tests should be conducted at least twice a day.
Presiding over a meeting of the HDA officials at his office on Wednesday, he said this exercise should immediately be started to monitor the quality of water.
He said according to the decision, taken at the first meeting of the committee on May 2, expenditures incurred on water tests would be borne by the Hyderabad district government.
He also directed the HDA management to take precautionary measures and treat water properly in case any contamination was detected in the system. He aid an awareness campaign should be launched to educate people in adopting precautionary measures, especially during summer.
Our Dadu Correspondent adds: Sindh irrigation secretary Ashfaq Ahmad Memon has said discharge of the River Indus at downstream Sukkur Barrage is 35,100 cusecs of water.
He confirmed that the irrigation department had decided to release 1,000 cusecs of the Manchhar water into the Indus on Friday. He claimed that the water quantity was improving at downstream Sukkur Barrage.
He told Dawn on Thursday that the irrigation department had also decided to release more water downstream Sukkur.
Mr Memon said the lake-river water ratio of 1:30 would not affect the health of people but, as a precautionary measure, more water would be released into the Indus River before the release of the lake water into it.
He said the water level of the Manchhar Lake was 109.7RL which would be reduced to 105RL.
He said DCOs of Hyderabad, Jamshoro and Dadu would monitor the water discharge into the Indus River.
He said health EDOs of Hyderabad, Dadu and Jamshoro would check hospitals in their respective areas and report to DCOs if any case of gastroenteritis was reported at the hospitals.