Submerged: 45-foot breach in Korai Wah floods three villages

Thousands of acres of agricultural land and food dept warehouse also inundated

SUKKUR: At least three villages and thousands of acres of agricultural land were flooded when a breach occurred on Friday night in the Korai Wah, near Pano Aqil some 45 kilometres away from Sukkur.

The 10-foot-wide breach widened to 45 feet due to lack of action by Sukkur Irrigation and Drainage Authorities (Sida) authorities.

At 2:30am on Friday night, a 10 foot-wide breach occurred in Kori Wah, near village Morr Jo Kando, and the water started gushing towards the villages and agricultural. The villagers immediately informed Sida officials but nothing was done, forcing the residents to try and plug the breach themselves. Strong currents of water foiled, however, their attempts.

By this time, the gushing water had already entered three villages - Morr Jo Kando, Bhelar and Sadhuja. The water had inundated cotton, sugarcane and rice crops sown over thousands of acres of land and was moving towards the National Highway when army soldiers from Pano Aqil Cantonment rushed to the scene and joined hand with the villagers to plug the breach. Later, Sida director Ghulam Yasin Qureshi and his team also joined them. After 10 hours of efforts, the soldiers, villagers and Sida officials succeeded in plugging the breach. The water also entered the food department's warehouses near the National Highway.



Affected residents spoke to the media and complained of Sida officials' apathetic attitude. They said despite receiving timely information, the officials failed to come to their rescue. An irrigation official requesting anonymity said that many people informed him about the breach but it 'was not his concern' because Sida is responsible for the Ghotki feeder and its offshoots. "I informed the responsible officials accordingly," he claimed, adding that had the officials rushed to the scene, the breach would not have widened and losses could have been minimised as well.

As the Kori Wah originates from the Ghotki Feeder, which is a feeder of the Guddu Barrage, therefore water discharge in the feeder was reduced from the Guddu Barrage to ease the situation. An affected resident, Muhammad Arif, told the media that water has entered their houses, due to which their grain stocks have been ruined. "The standing crops of cotton, sugarcane and rice have been badly hit by the strong current of water and resultantly the growers will sustain a loss of millions of rupees," he said. "Had the army jawans not rushed to our rescue, the situation would have gone out of control by now," said Arif.

Meanwhile, the Sida director is blaming lower staff for the breach and has ordered the immediate suspension of 16 daroghas and beldars on charges of negligence. Qureshi was unavailable for comments when contacted by The Express Tribune.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 12^th, 2016.