Sindh govt, Centre agree to build barrage on Indus to stop sea intrusion

Construction will start in 2021 and will be completed by 2024

KARACHI: The provincial government of Sindh and the federal government have agreed to construct a barrage on River Indus at 45 kilometres upstream the Arabian Sea in the south of Thatta and in the east of Karachi to address environmental issues such as sea intrusion and soil degradation.

The decision was taken in a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah at the CM House on Friday. The federal government delegation was led by Federal Minister for Water Resources Faisal Vawda.

CM Shah said that due to non-availability of water downstream Kotri, sea intrusion has destroyed hundreds of villages in Thatta and Sujawal districts and also badly affected the delta, as a result of the wetland's inhabitants, mangroves and growth has not only come to a standstill but has vanished to a large extent.  He added that hundreds of families have migrated from the areas in search of livelihood elsewhere.

Vawda and Water and Power Development Authority Lt Gen (retd) Mohammad Hussain briefed the chief minister that the Indus River was the country's largest and its lifeline.

Land needed

The WAPDA chief also told the meeting that around 56,500 acres land would be acquired for the project, which includes 55,000 acres for the flood plain, 700 acres for the right bank canal and 800 acres for the left bank canal. The chief minister said that since both the canals up to Dhabeji and Thar, respectively, the land acquisition would be more than 80,000 acres.

Timeline

The meeting was told that conceptual study by WAPDA would be completed by August 2019 and feasibility study by September 2020. The study would be vetted by international consultants by December 2020 and the detailed engineering design will be drafted by 2021. The project will be initiated in January 2022 and completed by December 2024.

Resettlement plan

The chief minister said that several villages would be displaced by the project, therefore a plan for the rehabilitation or resettlement of the inhabitants may also be included in the project. 

Published in The Express Tribune, August 24^th, 2019.