Rising water of Indus River: People start moving to safer places
Kandhkot
The rising water level of Indus River near Kandhkot posing threat to the protective levee, reported on Thursday. According to reports water level consistently on rise in river and has covered 30 feet of the protective levee of Guddu barrage posing a threat of breach to it. People of the nearby villages have started moving to safer places due to fears of breach in the river embankment.
It is pertinent to mention here that after a visit of provincial irrigation minister Sohail Anwar Sial, the repair work of the embankment was abruptly discontinued. Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Sindh had recently issued an alert about flood in Indus River with rising level of water at barrages in the province.
PDMA warned of flood threat to 15 districts of Sindh due to rising level of water in the river and adjoining canals. Increasing flood water in River Indus may affect the inhabitants of katcha area and the livestock during the flood situation. PDMA in its alert warned that inflow and outflow of water was on rise in Indus at Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages. The 2010 super floods caused by unprecedented rainfall along with sudden changes in the flow location of the Indus, which occurred due to the breach of the Tori Bund, a levee built upstream to contain the river water.
Meanwhile, due to the rising water level in Indus, a portion of the katcha [riverine] area has been affected. In 2010 flood around 11,00,000 cusecs of water passed through Guddu Barrage. The probable reason of the huge raise in the water level of Indus River was the inflow of rainwater from the hilly areas of Balochistan which added to the pressure on the River Indus.
The breach in the Tori bund near Kandhkot had submerged several villages of the Kaccha area. The bund serves as a primary protective wall and had earlier developed a 50-feet-wide breach due to pressure from River Indus.—INP