Danger ahead: Contractors break away protective dykes for mud

KARACHI: Each year, during the flood season, the irrigation department and local government officials go into overdrive, with emergencies being declared to strengthen the protective bunds along the rivers and canals to prevent the water from damaging the surrounding crops and settlements.

The district administration of Kamber Shahdadkot, however, has other plans. Instead of strengthening the embankments of canals, the officials have allowed contractors to excavate the mud and sand from the dyke of a drainage, whose responsibility falls with the irrigation department, putting the lives of thousands of people in danger.  The dumper crane machines and tractors are working round the clock to remove the mud from the drain, located 16 kilometers away from Kamber Town.

"The contractors, who are working on the roads in the district, have started removing mud from the drain's embankment, making it most sensitive," said Muhammad Siddique, a resident of Thorhi Bijar village. "A breach can occur at any time, which will not only inundate our villages, but the poisonous water can wash away our paddy crops standing on thousands of acres," he lamented.



"It seems the officials of the district administration are deliberately doing this for a chance to mint money from relief activities," believed Siddique. "We request the chief minister to take notice of this matter because these kinds of officers are defaming the government by ignoring people's grievances and providing lip service to them," he said.

The residents alleged that the excavation was being done with the consent of the district administration. "We registered several complaints with the Kamber Shahdadkot deputy commissioner and Larkana commissioner," said another villager, Shamsuddin. "Subsequently, a team of police personnel reached the spot, but instead of taking action, they took bribe from the contractors and allowed them to continue with the work," he said, adding that on the one hand the government had allocated billions of rupees to strengthen the dykes in Sindh, while on  the other, its own officers were allowing the destruction.

"Around half-a-kilometre of the dyke has been removed from our village and water has started seeping and overflowing, but no one is coming to help us," he said. Shamsuddin added that the 60-foot wide dyke had now been reduced to just around four to five feet.

Another villager explained the nullah carries contaminated water of many union councils of the district and passes in the lap of these villages. Light rains and a slight increase in water pressure could wreak havoc, he claimed. "The officers are just giving us false assurances instead of taking pragmatic measures," said the villager.

For his part, the Larkana Commissioner, Ghulam Akbar Leghari, said he has asked the relevant deputy commissioner to take immediate measures to deal with the issue. Meanwhile, deputy commissioner Captain Anwarul Haq assured that that they will resolve the matter soon.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 28^th, 2015.