HYDERABAD, June 28: The capacity of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) has been raised to 9,000 cusecs so that it could absorb rainwater in case heavy rains lashed its catchment areas, according to the project director.
The capacity could be increased up to 13,000 cusecs in the second phase, the director told Dawn.
A part of the LBOD will be excavated in an area between Jhuddo and Badin.
Residents of Badin district, where havoc has been played by the LBOD whenever it overflowed or started flowing in a reverse direction, have been opposing widening of the LBOD. They fear it would bring disaster to the region.
They believe the LBOD would not be able to carry such a large volume of water since it had been designed for only 4,600 cusecs.
There are design faults, too, in its outfall structure, the locals contended.
During last year’s monsoon rains, the authorities claimed that the LBOD had carried 16,000 cusecs of rainwater. However, many people laughed off the claim.
Project Director Syed Sardar Ali Shah said “90 per cent of repair and re-sectioning work has been completed in the first phase”.
“We have cleared silt from the drain’s bed. Now dressing is under way and we hope to complete it by June 30,” said Sardar Shah over phone from Mirpurkhas.
He said the height of LBOD’s banks had already been raised by two feet.
Last year’s rains had caused 58 breaches in its spinal drain, which carries water up to the sea. Another 28 breaches that occurred in Mirpurkhas Main Drain had been plugged, the project director said.
“From July 1, we will start phase 1(b) of the work. Damaged structures of LBOD system will be repaired in this phase. Work on increasing the capacity up to 13,000 cusecs is also likely to be taken up,” Mr Shah said.
The expansion will be carried out at some point between Jhuddo and Badin because the drain drew the entire quantum of water there.
APPREHENSIONS: People of Badin fear that increase in the LBOD capacity would invite yet another disaster for the area.
“Widening of the LBOD or increase in its capacity will pose a constant threat to Kadhan, Bhurgra Memon and some other areas due to a faulty tidal link structure,” according to Prof Ismail Kumbhar, who had once been part of a team that conducted a study on impact of the drain.
He said that after touring a vast stretch of area covered by the LBOD, he had concluded that the quality of work was poor.
“De-silting has not been not done, only wild bushes have been cleared and berms of bunds have been levelled,” Prof Kumbhar added.
Nawaz Memon, general secretary of the Sindh Abadgar Board, agrees with naysayers. “If the capacity of LBOD is increased, it will spell destruction for Badin. “Our contention is that irrigation authorities have not done anything to address the people’s concerns. Its bunds are too weak.
As westerly winds always speed up the tide, it resists drainage to the sea. Thus drainage water tends to flow backwards, putting pressure on the banks,” said Mr Memon.
But Sardar Shah, the project director, insisted that besides connecting Hakro Dhoro (a river that has dried up) with DPOD at RD110, capacity of LBOD would be increased.
After originating in Benazirabad district, the Left Bank Outfall Drain slices its way through Sanghar, Mirpurkhas and Badin.
To minimise pressure caused by rains on LBOD, the Sindh government had decided to clear Puran Dhoro of encroachments in Jhuddo’s urban area.
Puran has a 300-foot wide bed. According to an official, a swath of 100 feet has been cleared of encroachments, enabling rainwater to easily flow towards Badin.
“Last year’s catastrophe occurred because only a space of 15 feet was available for passage of rainwater.
But rainfall was widespread, such a narrow space was obviously too small an outlet for clearing rainwater,” he said.
However, he claimed, the 100 foot space free from obstruction would be of great help to clear rainwater.
People of Badin have suffered tremendously due to LBOD whenever there are rains or cyclone in the area. Either it is cyclone of 1999 or rains of 2003 or 2006 and then again cyclone in 2007 they had paid heavily because of design fault in LBOD at its outfall structure.