Sindh Agriculture Department has formed water emergency cell for growers’ help after water supply closure from Sukkur Barrage due to damage to two gates of the barrage. Interruption in water supply from the barrage to canals feared to have negative impact on crops.
Agriculturee department has announced to appoint focal persons to provide necessary guidance to growers, officials said. These focal persons will submit their reports to authorities about damage to crops owing to the water shortage, a spokesperson said.
The irrigation authorities seem to facing a challenge after two gates of Sukkur Barrage on Indus River were damaged in the wee hours of last Friday. The Chinese engineers on Saturday started the repair work and managed to pull up one of the fallen gates, the gate number 44. The authorities will repeat the same exercise for the gate number 47 after drop in the water level. The water supply has dropped to all the offtaking canals of the barrage, causing shortage of irrigation and drinking water.
Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro told the media in Sukkur that owing to the repair works, the right and left bank canals of the barrage will not get water. It is to be mentioned here that with the credit facility of the World Bank, six gates of the barrage, 31, 33, 34, 35, 39 and 40, were replaced in February, 2023.
The gate number 44 of the barrage has sustained heavy damage, while the gate number 47 was collapsed and plunged into deep water. Sukkur Barrage have 66 gates in its structure. The waterworks has completed its 92 years since its inauguration in 1932 by British Viceroy of India Lord Wellington. The authorities will repeat the same exercise for the gate number 47 after drop in the water level. The water supply has dropped to all the offtaking canals of the barrage, causing shortage of irrigation and drinking water.
