GUJRAT: Most of the portions of the agricultural land along the bank of Chenab river have been facing erosion due to the flow of water in the river.

However, the local administration has initiated a survey of the area being affected by the erosion.

The assistant commissioners of all three tehsils of Gujrat district have been directed by the district disaster management authority (DDMA) to conduct the survey of the areas locating along the banks of Chenab and Jhelum rivers passing through the limits of the district.

The Irrigation department will assist the administrative officers in assessing the condition of embankments and spurs in the areas locating along both the rivers as well as the storm water channels passing through various parts of the district.

Official sources said that right from the Marala headworks to the downstream the Chenab river water would often cause erosion of the agricultural land and recently a surge in floodwater into the Jhelum river had been observed that also caused some damage whereas the overflow in the Bhimbher storm water channel eroded a large portion of land near Kotla Arab Ali Khan.

They said that the DDMA had decided to conduct a survey of the affected areas about the losses of land, livestock or any other property whereas the local bodies and municipalities of major towns of Gujrat including that of the district headquarters had been asked to be alert to the urban flooding.

On Sunday last, Gujrat city witnessed a massive flooding as a result of a heavy rain only for one hour as there were no water pumping machines functioning at three disposal stations such as Bole, Kalara and Narowali due to which water could not be drained out timely causing a great inconvenience to the residents of city.

A senior official said that it was happened due to the misunderstanding between the Gujrat Municipal Corporation and Public health engineering department as the latter had removed the old pumping machines for the installation of new machines that were yet to be purchased. He said that the DDMA could not develop a better coordination between the relevant departments as the negligence of PH&ED and GtMC officials caused a great deal of trouble for locals however now some of the old machines had again been installed as a makeshift arrangement until the procurement and installation of new machinery at three disposal stations.

It is learnt that a committee comprising assistant commissioners and irrigation department officials would submit its report after conducting the survey of eroded and affected areas to the district disaster management committee besides this the officials would prepare a comprehensive plan for dealing with the erosion.

Published in Dawn, August 16th, 2020