DADU, Feb 26: A controversy has cropped over a plan to build the Nai Gaaj dam and take out a canal from its reservoir in Dadu district.
People in Johi taluka are particularly concerned and expressing apprehensions that the dam’s construction will stop supply of water to Manchhar Lake and land being irrigated by the Nai Gaaj nala will not get any water.
Some growers said that people belonging to the ruling party would cultivate their barren land from the proposed canal in Khairpur Nathan Shah and Johi talukas.
The Kachho belt is spread over hundreds of kilometres un-surveyed land in Johi, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar talukas. People in this area depend on rain water and thousands of acres of land is irrigated by the Nai Gaaj nala and sluices of flood-protection dykes.
There is no arrangement for storing rain water and the region faced a drought-like condition from 1997 to 2003 because there was no rainfall during the period. A large number of people left for other areas in search of food and fodder for their livestock.
The Water and Power Development Authority plans to build the dam to store rain water in the Khirthar Range and a ceremony to undertake a survey was held in February last year.
Wapda has to complete the feasibility report by June this year, but because of the interest taken by the minister for water and power in the project, it has decided to complete the study by March. It is learnt there is a plan to dig a canal at the zero point in Nai Gaaj for cultivation of 50,000 acres of barren lands.
Wapda’s member (water) M. Mushtaq Chaudhry has said that the main objective of the project is socio-economic development of the area by providing water for irrigation, controlling flood and developing fisheries. Mr Chaudhry also said that the height of the dam would be 150 feet and length 3840 feet, and the gross storage of water would be 174MAF, live storage 130MAF and dead storage 44MAF. He said that the command area would be 50,000 acres.
Executive engineer of Wapda’s survey team working at the site, Bilal Ahmad, said that water would first be provided to the new canal to cultivate barren lands. He said that the excess water would be provided to Manchhar Lake and other areas. Assistant engineer Nai Gaaj nala (Sindh irrigation department) Bashir Ahmad Jatoi said that nine sluices were functioning at Nai Gaaj but there was no system to control water during emergency. Local people were cultivating their land through the sluices.
He said that the sluices provided water to some parts of Johi taluka during the rainy season. The proposed dam, according to him, will be of immense benefit because it will enable distribution of water in accordance with needs.
However, people of villages in Johi taluka, including Kando Babbar, Bahawal Babbar, Drigh Bala, Sevo Jamli, Wali Mohammad Jo Ghando, Ismail, Wassan, Sijawal Ji Kati, Shahak Rodhnani, Qasim Rodhnani and Photo, believe that they will be adversely affected by the dam.
People’s Party Parliamentari-ans MNA Rafiq Ahmad Jamali, former MPA Syed Ghulam Shah Jilani and taluka PPP president Bashir Ahmad Thaheem are of the opinion that thousands of acres of land irrigated through sluices of Nai Gaaj will not get a drop of water if a canal is taken out from the dam. They said that Manchhar Lake which received sweet water from Nai Gaaj would be completely destroyed and Manchhar would turn into a lake of poisonous water and a large number of fishermen would be deprived of the means of livelihood.