HYDERABAD: The irrigation department has sought approval of the chief minister and chief secretary for the issuance of show-cause notices to three former chief engineers and other officers posted at the Sukkur Barrage, in the backdrop of the June 20 damage to its gates.

The notices have been prepared a few days back, sources in the provincial government said. The approval of CM and secretary is sought because the engineers and other officers are serving in BS-19 and BS-20, according to an official source.

If approval is granted, the notices would be issued to the outgoing Sukkur Barrage chief engineer, Sohail Hameed Baloch, former CEs Syed Sardar Ali Shah and Zaheer Memon, superintendent engineer Fayyaz Shah and former SEs Mohammad Younus Domki and Ashfaq Nooh Memon. Fayyaz Shah was serving as the SE when the incident had occurred.

The incident of damage to barrage’s gates had led to the setting up of an inquiry committee by the irrigation secretary. Besides, BS-19 and BS-20 officers, several officers of BS-17 and BS-18 scale are to face disciplinary proceedings. The notices to the officers serving in BS-17 and 18 (who had been posted at Sukkur Barrage in the last five years) are to be dealt by the irrigation secretary.

The draft notices were first submitted to the irrigation minister for his approval. All those officers who had served at the barrage in the last five years would be facing this departmental action in the light of the inquiry committee’s findings.

The report was prepared by a five-member committee headed by Ghulam Mohiuddin Mughal, project director of the Sindh Barrages Improvement Project (SBIP).

Other members of the committee were Chief Engineer Development Region-I Mansoor Ahmed Memon, Managing Director of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida) Pritam Das, Mukhtiar Ahmed Abro, Chief Engineer Right Bank Sukkur Barrage, and Mohammad Hayat Shaikh, Project Director of the Salinity Control and Reclamation project (SCARP).

The inquiry committee members had a difference of opinion in their findings regarding the damage, its causes and circumstances leading to the incident. While four members had a consensus opinion, the chairman had disagreed with them and given his separate opinion before signing the report.

Soon after the June 20 damage to the gates, the repair and rehabilitation work had started. Its gate No. 47 was replaced immediately with a new one after a few days of engineering works but before that a caisson gate was installed to remove the damaged structure. The caisson gate was removed after installation of the new gate.

The work on gates is to be initiated now again in October as was earlier scheduled. SBIP sources said that the work would continue till the peak of next Kharif before flood season.

Sukkur Barrage had a maximum discharge of 400,550 cusecs upstream and 380,850 cusecs downstream during this flood season. The then CE, Sohail Hameed Baloch, SE Fayyaz Shah and XEN were removed from their positions by Sindh government and then a formal inquiry was completed.

Initial reports also indicate that 16 gates are to be replaced during the Oct-May period. Six gates were replaced in the 2021-2022 period when damage to the gate No. 39 was reported in 2018. These six gates were manufactured by the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (KS&EW).

The coffer dam built downstream gate No. 47 still exists and is likely to be removed when the planned work is started this month. The gate No. 36, replaced only 18 days before the June 20 incident, is also under a trial-run after having been replaced as part of the SBIP.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2024