Sindh Minister for Planning & Development Younus Dagha directed the irrigation department secretary to prepare plans for reducing the risks to the structure of the Sukkur Barrage, flooding of cities and villages on the right bank of Indus River and to rehabilitate Manchhar Lake.
The directives were issued in a meeting attended by P&D chairman Syed Hassan Naqvi, irrigation secretary and engineers, and other officials of the Sindh irrigation department.
Briefing on the progress of the Right Bank Outfall Drainage (RBOD) project, the secretary informed that it was a sick scheme and the toxic effluent of the right bank irrigation continued to be discharged in the Manchhar Lake.
The meeting was informed that there was no project/plan presently under execution which could improve the situation.
The department’s representatives gave some ideas to improve the quality of effluent in the MNV drain before it was discharged into the Manchhar Lake.
On another query, the meeting was informed that even if the RBOD project was completed, it would not help the flooding of right bank which included the districts of Kambar-Shahdadkot, Lark-ana, Dadu and Jamshoro.
Those areas which were severely affected during the floods of 2011 and 2022 would continue to remain vulnerable unless some schemes were undertaken to divide the flood planes into various zones with independent discharge systems into the river, it was added.
It was also informed that any repeat episode of 2011 super floods could threaten the stability of the structure of Sukkur Barrage unless some scheme was made and implemented to safely divert excessive water into the Nara desert.
Minister Dagha directed the irrigation department to take urgent steps to prepare plans for: (i) revision and reactivation of the RBOD project which ensures rehabilitation of Manchhar Lake; (ii) flood water drainage channel to divert the water in the upper right bank region directly into the Indus River and (iii) escape channel upstream Sukkur Barrage to divert flood water into the Nara desert.
According to him, the schemes are critical to avoid losses to the households, agriculture and the infrastructure, amounting to trillions of rupees after every few years.
Mr Dagha said Sindh was the most vulnerable to the effects of the climate change and “we need to take immediate steps with sustained efforts to make our infrastructure more resilient”.
