MPAs fear another ‘catastrophe’ if dykes are not repaired soon

KARACHI: Sindh legislators are afraid of another “catastrophe” if the dykes on the Indus River are not repaired any time soon.

During the Sindh Assembly session on Wednesday, the MPAs discussed at length the pace of repairs on breaches and agreed that work must be completed before the flood season arrives.

Pakistan Muslim League-Functional MPA Nusrat Saher Abbasi raised this issue by pointing out that not a single breach has been plugged yet. She recalled that Pakistan Peoples Party MPA Dr Ahmed Ali Shah, who is the head of the parliamentary committee to review repair work, had earlier criticised government officials and the irrigation ministry for not working on the breaches.

“Your own committee has expressed concern on the issue. The people of Sindh cannot afford another calamity and we want to get a clear version from the government on it,” she said.

Dr Shah replied that there was no “satisfactory” progress and, after visiting the site of several breaches, the committee had sent a report to the president. The repairs of these dykes should have started two months ago and there are multiple factors behind the delay, he said. “A group of dacoits is demanding extortion from the contractors,” he said.

The Tori bund is located close to the katcha area, which is a hideout of the dacoits demanding bhatta [extortion] by sending “chits”, Dr Shah said.

The process of plugging breaches has been completed in the Punjab because they received funds from the federal government on time, he explained. The Sindh government received Rs2.5 billion only a few days ago, he added.

“The tenders have been awarded and the work has started,” he said. Dr Shah recommended the government hire irrigation and water consultants to review the plugging of the embankments. He hoped that the situation will be different in the next 15 days.

Speaker Nisar Ahmed Khuhro, who belongs to the same party as Dr Shah, refuted his claims and criticised the officials who claim to have started working on the breaches. “I visited Aqil Aghani Loop Bund near Larkana a few days ago and even the machinery has yet to be mobilised,” he said. “The same situation prevails in Tori and other embankments as well.”

Khuhro said that even though funds have been released and discussions have lasted for nearly two months, it seems as if no work has taken place on the ground. “The responsible person should properly inform the house why this is being delayed,” he said.

Residents of flood-affected areas are afraid that the water will rise again in April, he said. “It is the government’s responsibly to get rid of the extortion menace and establish the writ of the government,” he added.

Revenue minister Jam Mehtab Dahar said that they have hired professionals, including former irrigation secretary and water expert Idrees Rajput and his team. Out of the Rs5 billion allocated by the government, only Rs2.5 billion has been released, he said.

Since three different committees have been formed to review the situation, the work will be completed before the kharif season, he promised.

Earlier, irrigation minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo said that his department has sent a summary to the chief minister to appoint a member of Indus River System Authority (Irsa) from Sindh. “We are looking for a water expert as an Irsa member,” he said.

The government has also finished the feasibility study for a new barrage between Sukkur and Kotri, said Dharejo. Kalabagh Dam is a “dead issue” and the prime minister has assured that it could only be built after a consensus between the provinces, he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 24^th, 2011.