ISLAMABAD, Nov 28: The Leader of Opposition in the National Assembly, Khurshid Shah, sent a letter to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Thursday, urging him to build a new barrage at Sukkur. He said that spending funds on the existing barrage would be a waste of money.

Mr Shah, according to his spokesman, pointed out to the prime minister that the barrage built in 1932 had completed its natural life and had now become non-repairable.

“The work on the construction of barrage was started in 1925 and completed in seven years’ time in 1932. The lifespan of the dam was 60 years whereas it had already completed 82 years,” the spokesman quoted the opposition leader as saying in the letter.

Highlighting the importance of Sukkur Barrage, Mr Shah who owns a vast agricultural land at the mouth of the barrage, said that 7.8 million acres were being irrigated through this barrage. In 2004, he said, “a deep pit” was detected on the right pocket of the barrage in the year 2004 and its repair cost Rs890 million.

During the heavy floods in 2010, Mr Shah said, over 1.2 million cusecs of water safely passed through the old structure, but in future the barrage might not be able to withstand such a pressure.

The rehabilitation of the over 80-year-old structure would only be a temporary solution whereas its “ultimate solution” would only be its “replacement”.

In the letter, Mr Shah asked the federal government to undertake this project since the Sindh government could not finance such a large scheme. He said the barrage was a matter of life and death not only for the people of Sindh, but also for the economy of Pakistan.

International experts are reported to have suggested that the life of the barrage could be increased only by opening its central gates rather than opening only side gates which had been the practice for the past several years.