The irrigation minister has shouted himself hoarse refuting gloomy predictions of another year of flooding.
“The media has created hype and people are afraid of an upcoming flood. I assure the people that there would be no such situation,” insisted an optimistic Jam Saifullah Dharejo at a press conference held with representatives of the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture at his office on Thursday.
He said that 90 per cent of the work on the dykes bordering the River Indus has been completed and the remaining five per cent has been delayed because of shortage of material used for stone-pitching the embankments. Stone pitching involves packing the slopes of the dyke with rocks so that their sandy surface is not washed away.
“I do not doubt that we will meet our target,” he said with confidence. Around 3,000 breaches occurred in canals and dykes across the River Indus during last year’s floods. All the breaches have been plugged and sensitive points from Kashmore to Thatta have been strengthened, he said. He claimed that funding was not an issue as the federal government has given them the money while an agreement has also been singed with the Asian Development Bank to provide Rs25 billion to bolster embankments.
“The people and media should appreciate us because we have finished our jobs within three months, even compared to our leader Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who took three years to strengthen the embankments after the flash floods in his tenure,” he boasted.
Sindh Chamber of Agriculture President Nadeem Qamar, contradicted the minister’s statement by quoting reports by government consultant Idrees Rajput. He indicated there had been rampant corruption and that low-grade material was being used.
“We represent the growers and there are reports that work has not been initiated in some areas given the worsening law and order situation,” he said. “There is a severe shortage of irrigation water in the areas at the tail-end of the Indus and growers there have not yet started their kharif crops.”
Published in The Express Tribune, July 22nd, 2011.
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