Rise in water level: Re-strengthening of Shaink bund under way

Indus River embankment had eroded after a ‘sudden’ inflow of water

SUKKUR: The Indus River, despite a low discharge, has eroded a more than 100 feet of the Shaink bund situated near the Qadirpur loop bund in Ghotki.

Water from the river, which was flowing at a normal pace along its natural path, suddenly entered the Shaink bund early Monday morning and the gush of water was so instense that it started eroding the embankment after the water level rose from three feet to 16 feet.

According to the residents, the strong current had washed away the stone pitching at an approximately 100 feet portion of the bund by Monday afternoon, after which the mud filling started to give up and resultantly the bund was weakened to an alarming extent.

Villagers residing in the katcha area informed the relevant authorities of the near-breach, who then rushed to the scene and started pitching stones on the bund to fortify it.

A Ghotki-based reporter informed that the strengthening work on the Shaink bund and Qadirpur loop bund was already in progress but at a very slow pace. The Sindh chief minister had also visited the Qadirpur loop bund recently and directed the irrigation authorities to complete the strengthening work within ten days in light of chances of floods.

Talking to The Express Tribune on the phone, one of the residents of the katcha area inside Qadirpur loop bund, Raees Din Mohammad Chachar, said "You never know when the river is going to change its direction. River Indus is the king and kings never bother to inform the masses before doing anything".

Talking about the strengthening work of the bund, he said the authorities are working half-heartedly.

Another resident, Haji Mohammad Siddiq Chachar, also said that "the Shaink bund is being fortified at a very slow pace due to which the river had a chance to erode parts of it." The water discharge in the Indus River is not more than 150,000 cusecs, which is nothing as compared to the flow of water during the 2010 flood, he said, adding that something happened overnight and there was an inflow of water which eroded more than 100 feet portion of the bund.

Shaink bund is the first line of defence and if it gives in then all the water pressure will be shifted to the Qadirpur loop bund, he warned.

Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority Ghotki director Ghulam Yasin Qureshi told The Express Tribune that the flow of water from the river changed its direction all of a sudden and caused extensive damage to the stone pitching at the bund. However, the situation is under control now and stones are being dumped to repair the damage. "As the current of water near the bund is very strong, we are dumping bigger stones so they can withstand the pressure," he explained.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 19^th, 2016.