Irrigation Dept fails to properly desilt canals

LAHORE:  

Due to the Irrigation Department’s negligence in carrying out the first phase of the de-silting campaign, Lahore Canal now resembles a dirty drain.

Every year the Irrigation Department de-silts all the canals in the province so that water is able to pass through the channel easily in order to reach the tail-end. However, this year the department failed to clean all the dirt in Lahore canal before releasing the water.

As a result, all the dirt and garbage have mixed in with the water making it resemble a sewage drain. The department maintains that they have completed cleaning the entire canal. On the other hand, the ground reality suggests that only a few parts of the canal have been de-silted; when they released water into the canal, all the dirt and garbage was carried along with it.

Meanwhile, an official from the Irrigation Department, on the condition of anonymity, said that a total of 316 canals will be cleaned during the de-silting campaign. Canals which are connected to Mangla Dam and Tarbela Dam will also be included in the de-silting campaign, he maintained.

Field engineers are supervising the campaign while separate monitoring teams have also been formed in this regard, he said. The second phase of the de-silting campaign will begin in February and will continue until April. During this, 1,989 canals miles of 304 perennial and non-perennial canals will be desilted. Only once the department had cleaned Lahore Canal was the water released, said the official.