The sudden discovery of the damages a few years ago to the upstream apron of the Sukkur Barrage had put the entire government machinery in great spin to prevent the possible collapse of the Sukkur Barrage structure.

The threat was caused by the unnoticed (!) loss of the supporting foundation soil due to scouring the upstream apron of the barrage.

Some hectic repairs were carried out in emergency at quite heavy cost to save the vital structure. But, this incident must not be forgotten as a one time happening only, unless some concrete and foolproof monitoring has been enforced to avoid any bigger havoc to the entire barrage system.

The barrage is supplying water to seven off-taking major irrigation canals (three right-bank canals, NWC, Rice Canal and Dadu Canal; and four left-bank canals, Nara Canal, Rohri Canal, Khairpur East and Khairpur West Feeder Canals). It is contributing about 80 per cent to the economy of Sindh and is acting and performing as a vital catalyst to the national economy.

The Sindh Irrigation and Power Department should regularly and periodically publish a gazette for the information of the stakeholders who are depending for their livelihood on this very vital barrage system. The stitch-in-time solutions are not safe and reliable because there is no time-effective alternative/substitute at all in case any damage occurs to the Sukkur Barrage.

There is another factor of construction of road/highway bridges over the rivers. Whether these structures are satisfying the original design considerations of the “Lloyd Barrage Systems”, is a matter to be explained by the Irrigation and Power Departments of the respective provinces.

In the past, the upstream and downstream of the Sukkur Barrage was regularly dredged to maintain its depth and the course of flow. The channels and the upstream and downstream basins on both sides of the barrage formed safe homes and singular homeland for the much vanished species of Blind Dolphins and mammals of various species.

The dredging had helped to maintain the river as a safe waterway for public and cargo at substantial economic costs and as a deep-channel for the sub-soil drainage of the saline water from both side of its left and right banks and finally discharged through engineering-designed extruding-ejector-sluices and escapes to the low-lying areas to the both sides and ultimate to the sea.

This ensured and maintained the best fertility of the lands; season after season and crop after crop, as well as during and after inundations by the floods.

There are reservations of many about the present endeavors of constructing provincial and inter-provincial drainage systems consisting of crisscross drains through very fertile lands and finally discharged in the so-called LBOD and RBOD at a quite heavy capital and maintenance cost.

Therefore, the whole system of the Indus in Sindh needs to be looked into from purely engineering perspective as was conceived during pre-partition days of undivided India. But, consideration for construction of a new Sukkur Barrage in view of its present condition and the remaining engineering-life is of the utmost importance.

Construction of new dams without reliable conditions of the barrages on Indus, especially the Sukkur Barrage commissioned as back as 1932, will not contribute and deliver the envisaged objectives and benefits attached to these dams.

Gates of the Sukkur Barrage were replaced a couple of years ago with the funds provided by the donors but, with much controversy and criticism over the design and construction practices. Even the upstream and downstream of Kotri Barrage as well as planned new Sehwan Barrage depends on the integrity and soundness of Sukkur Barrage.

The designed power-generation capacity envisaged in the design of these barrages if maintained and improved will substantially contribute to the power needs of at least most of the neighbouring towns.

The Sukkur Barrage perhaps may have outlived its designed life or is close to that stage, a new barrage at the same location on its upstream/downstream is the essential need of the present time.