KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah, in consultation with irrigation experts and army’s engineering corps, decided to get the breaches in FP (Flood Protective) bund plugged and pump out floodwater from the cities and towns of Khairpur and Naushahro Feroze districts to restore routine life.

Presiding over a meeting of the coordination committee held at CM House here on Friday, he said that since floodwater in Indus River was now receding, a mechanism should be evolved to dispose of stagnant water from cities.

He proposed that all the three breaches in the FP bund should be plugged so that flows could be driven into Manchhar Lake, instead of flooding nearby towns and villages. He noted that the lake had already started discharging its water into the Indus.

It was pointed out that the bund’s condition was so feeble and precarious that machinery could not be moved there to plug breaches. Therefore, the meeting decided to send workforce to the sites to plug them manually.

Says breaches in FP bund, Puran Dhoro should be plugged and dewatering work started in cities and towns

Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro, who attended the meeting through video link from LS bund, told the chief minister that Khairpur and Naushahro Feroze cities and their nearby towns and villages were inundated. Adviser Manzoor Wassan pointed out that Kot Diji was the most-affected town and facing complete inundation.

After a thorough discussion, the meeting decided to dispose of floodwater from Kahirpur, Nausharo Feroze, Kot Diji and nearby villages into Rohri Canal using pumping machines.

The CM assigned the dewatering task to the commissioners, irrigation chief engineers and the district administrations concerned, and said that police and Rangers personnel would support them. He also directed the PDMA to arrange necessary pumping and dewatering machines.

Floodwater receding

The CM was informed that Manchhar Lake had attained water level of 122.2 (early Friday gauge) and the level along FP bund on the right side of Sukkur Barrage had also lowered between 5ft and 9ft in the upper reach of Saifullah and Rice Canal division. In the southern Dadu division, water level came down by three to five feet in the lower reach while the level along Suprio bund also lowered by about nine inches to two feet. The Warah Canal registered a reduction of 6.5 to 5.2 feet. Water level in Dhamrah which was showing an upward trend but now it was flowing into the Main Nara Velley Drain (MNVD) and the flows were continuously reducing.

Similarly, the Shahdadkot main drain and Miro Khan main drain levels had lowered by about one to two feet and water was now flowing into the RBOD-III. The Ghar main drain which was flowing in reverse was now flowing into the MNVD and its level had started reducing by two to three feet. The Mehar main drain was also flowing into the MNVD and its level had reduced by about one feet while Khairpur Nathan Shah main drain was flowing into the MNVD with a reduction in its level by six inches.

The meeting was informed that overall water level was lowering in the upper areas of Qubo Saeed Khan taluka, Shahdadkot, Qambar, Warah and Nasirabad as well as along the Ring bund of Mehar town.

The CM was urged to help restore of electricity connections of the Ghar, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Mehar pumping stations in Dadu district so that floodwater could be disposed of from the two badly affected towns.

Mr Shah directed the chief secretary to talk to the Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) in this regard.

Jhuddo remains flooded

The chief minister pointed out that Jhuddo town of Mirpurkhas district was completely flooded. “I have taken its aerial view. It was totally submerged,” he said.

Jam Khan Shoro proposed that floodwater in Juddo should be disposed of into Puran Dhoro. CM’s Adviser on Rehabili­tation Rasool Bux Chandio suggested that the disposal should be delayed for a couple of days considering immense pressure of floodwater at the moment.

The meeting agreed with him and accordingly the irrigation department was asked to complete plugging of breach in Puran Dhoro so that further inundation of Pangrio and Malkani towns could be stopped.

Published in Dawn, September 10th, 2022