Major damages are reported at two main gates of the Sukkur barrage, Sindh agriculture sector’s lifeline, as of last week. One of the gates was submerged after being dislocated from its arch when the barrage had a flow of 96,040 cusecs, which also rendered another gate dysfunctional.

This prompted irrigation authorities to release water downstream and suspend irrigation supplies to seven main barrage canals. The Sindh irrigation department is going to submit fresh indent to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa) to seek reduction in supplies in view of damages, unfortunately though, at the peak of Kharif season.

Sukkur Barrage supplies irrigation water to around 8.2 million acres of land through its seven canals, with a cumulative length of 1,442km of main canals and 1,220km of branch canals.

The barrage has 2,819km long distributaries that feed large swatches of farmlands on the right and left banks of the Indus River. Sukkur’s Nara canal is it’s longest at 592.7km, followed by the 334.26km long Rohri canal. The two canals combined bring irrigation water right upto the tail end of the system in Badin and Mirpurkhas. It is a source of water for Balochistan as well through the North Western Canal (NWC).

Farmers worry as authorities halt Sukkur barrage operations to assess recently damaged gates during peak Kharif

Authorities officially claim they need three days to assess the damage and devise a strategy before the barrage’s normal operations are resumed, as they consult a Chinese firm. All gates have been opened to release water downstream, reducing the pond level from 199.5 to 192 till Saturday while suspending water supplies to canals to begin restoration work.

This situation will seriously affect the farm sector’s economy, as major crops, including sugarcane, paddy, and cotton, need water during peak Kharif. Paddy grown in command areas fed by non-perennial canals on the right bank needs water for transplantation or preparation of nurseries, as these canals feed rice-growing areas.

According to Irsa’s Director of Operations, Khalid Idris Rana, Sindh had submitted an indent of 180,000 to Irsa, but only 170,000 cusecs were supplied to the province as per its accord-based share. “Now, 90,000 cusecs of water will be released for Sindh, which is exactly 50pc of its previous indent,” Mr Rana says, adding that reduced supplies would help authorities resume repair works following damages.

Irrigation department official Shahbaz Akhtar, however, insisted demand for water flows would be cut by 30,000 cusecs in view of the emergency. He rules out any negative impact on command areas of the rest of the two barrages — Guddu and Kotri — in the wake of the revised indent submission for water supplies and damages at the barrage.

Growers, however, were visibly perturbed after learning about these damages and said that after the 2022 floods, this was another kind of disaster for the irrigation network considering the barrage’s vitality for the agriculture sector, where groundwater remains brackish and most of the command area is dependent on canal water supplies; inefficiency notwithstanding.

“I hope I am wrong, but normal supplies will not be resumed before a substantial time is lost in repairs during peak Kharif. We fear crops including cotton on around 6-7m acres may be jeopardised due to suspension of water supplies,” contends President of Sindh Abadgar Board (SAB), Mahmood Nawaz Shah.

Mr Shah urges the federal energy minister to ensure regular electricity supplies in those areas where farmers may find recourse to groundwater abstraction, if available. “For this, we need uninterrupted electricity supply to operate water lifting machines,” he says.

The damage to the two gates has once again set alarm bells ringing about the overall safety of the barrage’s structure. These damages have surprisingly occurred only a few months after annual maintenance.

Besides, rehabilitation and modernisation of the barrage under the World Bank’s multimillion-dollar loan are underway. The World Bank project, called Sindh Barrages Improvement Project (SBIP), aims to rehabilitate three barrages in Sindh and is now slated for completion in early 2027 after revision of its previous completion date of June 2024.

“In August 2023, we saw a video showing river water rising over the gates. Floodwaters had not ended then, but the gates were closed to raise pond level to benefit canals that feed farmlands of influential landowners. Such negligence has brought us to a total disaster. Structures like the Sukkur barrage can’t remain intact on a political basis,” says water activist Zulfikar Halepoto.

Following the 2010 super floods, there has been talk of building a new Sukkur barrage over the Indus. Several foreign experts have visited the barrage since then. With a World Bank loan of $328m, SBIP was launched around 2015-2016. It is currently underway. According to SBIP’s chief, Mohiuddin Mughal, the loan’s amount has been revised downward to $291m as some scope of work has been reduced, thus leading to cost savings.

Mr Mughal adds that out of Rs74bn — the project’s current cost in Pakistani rupees — expenditures worth 46pc of the amount have been incurred. Of these expenses, 10 out of 65 gates at Guddu have been replaced by a Turkish farm, and some ancillary works have been completed.

At Sukkur barrage, six gates were replaced last February by Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KS&EW) after being manufactured indigenously by KS&EW under the project. Gate 36 was replaced by a Chinese firm in May, and it is currently passing its trial.

Mr Mughal says that the Sukkur barrage is indeed an old structure, but ongoing works will increase its age by another 30-35 years. “Rehabilitation of civil structure of Sukkur barrage will be done besides rehabilitation of river training works under the project,” he says.

The same Chinese firm staff discussed the latest damages with Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro and Secretary Irrigation Zarif Iqbal Khero. Mr Shoro explained that a team has been formed to investigate damages and adds that gate 44 has been retrieved. “Rehabilitation work at Sukkur [barrage] started after a report indicated in 2018 that gate replacement is a must. Six gates were replaced without delay by KS&KE, including gate-39, which was damaged in 2019,” he says.

Till normal irrigation water supplies in major canals are resumed from Sukkur barrage, farmers can only wait or look for rains to rescue them at this critical juncture of crop season.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, June 24th, 2024