HYDERABAD: Water being stored in Darawat Dam spilled over its banks on Monday night for the first time since 2014 amid torrential rains continuing in the region for over a week. Such flows were received through hill torrents of Nai Baran, a natural waterway in the area.

Chief Engineer Small Dams Project of Sindh government Shafqat Wadhu confirmed on Tuesday that water flows started spilling at 2:30am Tuesday. “Water flows are still spilling over and flowing to take route of Nai Baran, where the dam has been built. The dam has attained its maximum storage level of 112.55 metres,” he said.

“Water storage can go up to 118 metre and spillways will keep working as well,” he added. He noted that the dam’s catchment area was continuously receiving water from torrents, forcing people to move to safer places. “The dam’s lake area, where water is stored, is quite huge,” he said.

Darawat Dam was built in Jamshoro but the area planned to be irrigated by its water falls in Thatta district. It is rain-fed area. The dam was inaugurated in March 2013 by then president Asif Ali Zardari. Its construction was started in 2010 by Wapda during PPP government.

The dam was completed at a cost of Rs11.67bn. Since its construction, it could not attain its maximum storage level of 112.55 metres. It is currently under Sindh government’s small dams department’s administration and perhaps it is the first dam of such a big size which is being managed by the irrigation department. After completion, Wapda had handed it over to Sindh government.

Bane for local population?

According to reports from the area, the communities living in the dam’s upstream reservoir/lake area is facing serious issues relating to inundation as torrent and rainwater had entered their homes in several villages. An exact number of affected people could not be ascertained. An estimate of damage to the area is also unavailable. Some residents of the area said that they were facing serious problem due to heavy flows of torrents in Nai Baran which feeds this rain-dependent area. People are refusing to leave their abodes, said an official.

Jamshoro Deputy Commissioner Farid Mustafa told Dawn that the district administration along with army personnel had on Monday evacuated some families upstream the dam. He said that the people who had climbed mountains in the area were provided food, water and other relief goods by the administration through the route of Jangri. Camels were used for transporting the relief goods, he added. These people, he said, had refused to leave their area.

It was learnt that some communities had also settled downstream the dam considering the fact that the dam never attained its maximum storage level nor did it spill water over the last eight years. They were now asked to move to safe places because gushing flows from the dam could hit them.

Even during the period of water storage in the area, supplies were not made to attain any level in the dam for irrigation purpose because Sindh government had not been able to complete development work of its command area. Land acquisition issues also remained unresolved downstream the dam.

Locals resist land survey

These issues were to be addressed by the Thatta district administration and revenue department after verification of land record. When revenue officials from Thatta district visited the area, some community fellows raised objection over the intended survey for land-related issues. Such survey has still remained pending. “The command area can’t be developed unless the survey is done,” said an official. He said similar issues were pending upstream dam in the reservoir area.

The Nai Baran flows, primarily stored in Darawat Dam, would keep taking their route up to the sea in Thatta. “Water from the dam can be released even if it has a storage of 104 metres but it is not recommended as this will cause siltation problem in the dam’s structure. However, flows can be released when it is a little above 105 metres or 106 metres,” said a former Wapda official, who had been associated with the dam’s operation until it was not handed over to Sindh government.

Published in Dawn, July 27th, 2022