LARKANA: The unabated erosion of Ruk loop dyke due to mounting pressure of water current in the wake of visible shift in the course of Indus River towards right bank, 65 kilometres from here in Shikarpur district, is a disaster in the making if timely intervention is not made to avert the threat.

This correspondent visited the ‘most vulnerable’ portion of the dyke as described by the villagers on Monday and noted that continuous erosion had left the loop bund just 100 feet away from the last defense line while the distance must be at least 1,000 feet from the dyke according to Bund Manual, said an irrigation official.

Shahnawaz Abro, a retired station master, said that the two dykes had already washed away during previous floods. If the department delayed construction of spurs, the huge current in the river during flood season could play havoc with the area, said Amir Ali Abro, a retired ticket checker, who had seen the bund washed away when he was 12 years old.

“God forbid! If it the dyke breached the river water will directly rush to Larkana and then go to Sehwan Sharif. This is extraordinary situation which demands extraordinary measures,” they said.

Timely intervention vital to help avert a disaster, say residents of nearby villages

The deflection of the river course had developed a big island and the river current was presently striking at ninety degrees angles after taking a snake’s turn, said a former executive engineer Syed Habibullah Shah.

The threat to the loop bund would further escalate due to change in the river course caused by illegal constructions on the left bank of the river, said a source in irrigation department. Now the river had changed its course from left to right and increased vulnerability of the right bank, said the locals.

Ruk Loop Bund, located on the right side at downstream of Sukkur barrage in Lakhi taluka, Shikarpur district, had been constructed as the second line of defense behind Ghumra Loop Bund and Sehwan-Larkana Bund during 1960-61 in the wake of active erosion of the bank opposite Ghumra bund, said Muhktiar Abro, superintendent engineer of the irrigation department.

The Ruk bund became the first line of defense during Abkalani of 1973 when Ghumra Loop Bund was eroded away at mile 6/3 and the reach of Ghumra and Sehwan-Larkana Bunds was de-commissioned, leaving the Ruk bund to act as the first line of defense since then, he said.

After unabated river erosion four spurs were constructed along Ruk bund at Mile 0/5, 1/1, 1/6 and 2/3 in 1978-79. The spurs sustained heavy damage during super flood in 2010 and another deluge in 2015.

The river grew violent against Ruk spurs on the right bank when the spurs were built along Ulra Jagir bund on the left bank of the river opposite Ruk loop bund. During this year’s flood, the river extended its curvature at upstream of first T-head spur at Mile 0/5 of Ruk bund and at 0/3, which was alarming, hence timely measures needed to taken to check the erosive tendency of the river in this reach, said the sources.

Superintendent Engineer western Sindh circle had submitted a proposal for constructing T-head spur and studs, which was estimated to cost Rs973.274 million, to save the bund, said the sources.

A team of officers including Haji Khan Jamali, chief engineer Kotri barrage; Zarif Iqbal Khero, chief engineer development Hyderabad, and Pritam Das, managing director of Sind Irrigation and Drainage Authority visited the site on Feb 10, 2021, and examined the proposal thoroughly, said the sources, adding now the proposal awaited government’s nod.

If the proposal was put on the backburner it would only raise the gravity of the threat and breach during flood season as the water would directly travel to Larkana due to slope and onwards up to Manchhar Lake, said the villagers.

It was high time concrete measures were taken to save the bund, otherwise it would be too late to control the damage during flood fighting season, they said. Already a part of the existing T-shaped spur had been severely affected and important portions of the bund had been deprived of aprons, said the sources.

Presently, hitting along Ruk loop bund opposite Naugoth village at 90 degrees angle the river’s behaviour became quite dangerous while receding, said the sources.

The big island that had appeared due to deflection of the river course to the right bank opposite the Ruk bund could pose a serious problem in future as the river bed at this point would further get squeezed and subsequently mount pressure on the dyke, said former executive engineer Syed Habibur Rehamn Shah.

The length of Ghumra loop bund was four miles and six furlongs and was constructed in 1960-61 while the Ruk loop bund, which was two miles and three furlongs long with four spurs, was constructed in 1978-79.

Published in Dawn, November 15th, 2022