Managing dyke repairs before Kharif season

By Saleem Shaikh

Daily Dawn, February 14, 2011

THE cash-strapped Sindh government has not been able to fully restore damaged irrigation network despite passage of almost six months since the devastating floods hit the province last year.

Irrigation experts are worried that if the damaged river embankments are not rehabilitated and breaches plugged before the coming monsoon season in June, the problem may worsen.

The federal government has agreed to release Rs2.5 billion on an urgent basis.

A senior official in the provincial irrigation department, meanwhile, told this scribe that the Sindh government had released a sum of Rs2 billion from its own resources to re-start the rehabilitation work. The work would gear up once the promised funds start flowing in from the federal government.

The provincial irrigation secretary Rafique Memon said that he had already told the meeting of the Federal Ministry for Inter-provincial Coordination held in Islamabad few weeks back that Sindh urgently needed Rs8 billion for repairing river dykes.

He warned of far-reaching implications on the province’s agricultural economy, if the required funds were not released before mid-February.

Irrigation officials said the Sindh government was now waiting for immediate release of Rs5 billion for rehabilitation of dykes and canals to their original shape for its Kharif sowing.

If the provincial government will not manage the daunting task of rehabilitation in a short span of three months, the Kharif sowing that starts from April 15, will suffer.

“The Sindh government is very much aware of the dangers the broken river dykes and breaches pose to the provincial economy, but it is handicapped by the financial constraints,” said a senior official in the department.

After approval of the Provincial Development Working Party (PDWP), the provincial government had submitted 76 schemes worth Rs16 billion to the Central Development Working Party (CDWP) for its approval. But, only Rs14 billion were approved in the CDWP meeting held on January 22 for implementation of 64 schemes of urgent nature.

After the modus operandi for the release of the funds was being considered by the ECNEC, the federal government announced on February 2 to give Rs5 billion for priority projects .

Officials in the provincial irrigation department said that undue delay in the release of the approved amount of Rs5 billion was further delaying the rehabilitation work.

Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said Tori Bund and Kot Almo breaches were not plugged with conventional irrigation department methods. These were plugged initially on emergency basis by stone-dumping to halt floodwater flow from there.

He also said that these breaches were still open and efforts were yet to be made to plug them properly. But it was not possible until the centre released the approved funds.

According to reports quoting official sources, around 1,946 breaches out of a total of 2,515 that occurred in different waterways, had been plugged at a cost of Rs1 billion.

Irrigation expert Idris Rajput said that floodwater enters Sindh in June. Therefore, rehabilitation of dykes and plugging of breaches should be completed before it, or else, the province would face yet another devastation.

The provincial chief minister has issued orders to the irrigation department to immediately kick off the strengthening of all damaged embankments and plugging of breaches by May this year. For, which he has released Rs2 billion from province’s own resources.

Irrigation experts doubt whether the hefty amount of Rs5 billion, released in installments by the centre to the provincial government, would be utilised efficiently and in a transparent manner.

“There is also a deep suspicion in the federal government about the Sindh government’s inability to efficiently utilise Rs5 billion before May this year for the quality rehabilitation work,” said Fazullah Qureshi, a former federal secretary planning and development.

Conceding to such doubts, he said that spending such a huge amount in a span of just three months was really a great challenge for the irrigation department in view of lack of capacity and efficiency.

He suggested: “If the government wants to restore the irrigation network in such a short span of time with transparent utilisation of funds following release of more funds by the federation, then it should first start plugging all breaches immediately and simultaneously, launch dykes repairing and strengthening work on them.”

He said that the government’s top priority should be quality work on the damaged irrigation network, with focus on monitoring of the rehabilitation work. Otherwise, the next possible flood would sweep away the irrigation system again and cause more massive damages than it caused last year.

Web link: http://www.dawn.com/2011/02/14/managing-dyke-repairs-before-kharif-season.html

Canals` Closure Creates Water Scarcity in Sindh

By Saleem Shaikh

Daily Dawn

January 31, 2011

saleemzeal@gmail.com

THE scarcity of both irrigation and drinking water in many parts of Sindh has sparked protests and rallies by farmers, traders and the people whose day-to-day socio-economic lives and standing crops have been affected.

The water shortage has aggravated following closure of canals during the second week of December for de-silting and repair/maintenance work at barrages, canal heads, and regulators.

On November 23, the federal ministry for water and power had announced canal closure schedule for de-silting and repair from December 26, 2010 to January 31, 2011. The provincial irrigation department and relevant authorities were directed to strictly adhere to the schedule and make alternative arrangements for providing water for irrigation and drinking in their respective provinces.

But, alternative arrangements were not adequate in many areas of Jacobabad, Sukkur, Qambar-Shahdadkot, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar, Tando Adam, Matiyari, Sanghar, Thatta, Badin and Umerkot districts. In these shortage-hit districts, the underground water has also turned brackish because of closure of the canals.

The Sukkur Barrage and its seven off-taking canals were shut in the first week of January for annual repair and maintenance. But, because of lack of coordination between the office of the barrage`s chief engineer and municipal administration, the city and its adjoining areas suffered acute water shortage.

In anticipation of shortage in the Sukkur region, the provincial government assigned the North Sindh Urban Services Corporation (NSUSC) to arrange supply of water to people of Sukkur, Rohri and adjoining areas through tube-wells in a week`s time.

The NSUSC is a public limited company working under the local government. But, a dispute broke out on January 5 over drilling of wells for alternative supply of drinking water when irrigation officials forcibly got the corporation`s drilling work halted and the machinery removed from the sites.

When NSUSC`s Sukkur director Abid Hussain asked as to why they had stopped their work, the irrigation officials told him to approach the Executive Engineer Sukkur Barrage Zareef Khero on this issue.

“But, Zareef Khero when contacted said he had no concern with it,” a NSUSC official said. Meanwhile, this scribe also tried to approach the relevant district government officials to find out their version, but they refused to comment.

A Sukkur town municipal official told this scribe that “against the daily requirement of 16 million gallons of water, the city is getting only nine million gallons.”

The residents complain that much of it is contaminated as it is supplied through leaked and damaged supply lines, which run parallel to the drainage pipelines.

People of different localities fetch expensive water from hand pumps installed in the low-lying areas of the city.

NSUSC Sukkur Assistant Director Manzoor Ahmed Bachkani said the situation was slowly improving in some parts of the city. “Now the closure of Sukkur Barrage is over and enough water is being supplied to the affected residents,” he remarked.

On December 20 last year, Chief Engineer Irrigation of the Kotri Barrage had notified for the information of landholders, cultivators, Hyderabad`s Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa), civic agencies of adjoining districts and all concerned that the barrage canals would remain closed from December 25 to January 01 for normal inspection, maintenance and necessary repairs. During this period there would be no water flowing in any of the barrage`s off-taking canals namely Akram Wah (Lined Channel) Old Phuleli (Pinyari), New Phuleli (Phuleli), Kalri Baghar Feeder Upper, Wadhu Wah and Fasadi Wah.

But, the Hyderabad`s Water and Sanitation Agency and district government officials and the TMOs of Thatta, Badin and other districts failed to make arrangements for alternate supply.

The people of Hyderabad, Tando Mohammad Khan, Tando Allahyar, Matiari, Thatta and Badin districts have held officials of Taluka municipal administrations responsible for their water woes.

According to reports, more than 800,000 people are facing water shortage in the said districts.

Badin, a town of more than 200,000 people, is the worst hit in lower Sindh, facing water shortage for more than 45 days. Standing vegetable and Rabi crops in and around the area are also at the risk of being damaged.

Lar Abadgar Board`s Amin Memon said: “The locals never opposed de-silting and maintenance work at the Qazia Canal, which is the chief source of drinking water for the people of Badin city and its adjoining areas. But alterative arrangements for water supply should have been made by the TMA.”

Water scarcity had equally affected the people and farmers as seedlings of tomato and other vegetables were drying up due to zero availability of water in canals and distributaries. Besides, fish farmers have also suffered massive losses because of short supply of fresh water,” he pointed out.

Meanwhile, senior officials at the Kotri Barrage told this scribe on phone that water shortage situation downstream Kotri Barrage districts was unlikely to improve before mid-February as the repair/maintenance work would take another two or three weeks.

Weblink:

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