Private dykes on public land may lead to another bout of floods

MNA says irrigation dept gave permission for them to build their own protection.


Hafeez Tunio July 28, 2011

THATTA/KARACHI:


The private bunds (dykes) set up along the riverbed in Thatta district have yet to be demolished despite the government’s promises to have them removed.


The dykes have been set up by influential people who claim to have the irrigation department’s blessing. The people living along the river claim that these dykes have been built by encroachers to protect the farmhouses that have been built on land illegally reclaimed from the river bed.

The people who were displaced by the floods last year have returned to their homes, but as the monsoons loom, these people - particularly those living in the katcha areas - fear a repeat of last year’s devastation. They want the dykes removed and demand that the government remove encroachments in the River Indus.

“Even before the floods, we raised a hue and cry to have the private dykes removed, but no one listen to us,” said Abdullah Mallah, a primary school teacher in Belo Town. “The situation is the same now because there are no concrete efforts being made to resolve the matter.”

Belo is two kilometres from the River Indus and home to 10,000 people. They had no option but to abandon their homes when water gushed into their houses last year.

“My shop sank completely and our town remained submerged for about two months,” said Muhammad Aslam, a shopkeeper. “We would not have been in such a bad situation had the government removed these dykes.”

During The Express Tribune’s recent visit to the area, the majority of the residents who were displaced last year complained against the Shirazi and Pathan farms established inside the riverbed near Kot Almon.

Hundreds of acres of land are used to farm sugarcane, vegetables, bananas and other crops and house settlements for famers and servants. This is where the Indus River’s embankments were breached. The residents blame the private dykes bordering the farms for the breach because the riverbed narrowed to a mere canal.

Many villages, including those of Haji Allah Jurio Mallah, Muhammad Khan Bujaro, Abudullah Ghotiyo, Ibrahim Mallah, Vikiya, were swept away last year.

The owner of the Shirazi Farm, Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid MNA Ayaz Shah Shirazi, said that they acquired permission from the irrigation department before reclaiming and irrigating land inside the river. “It is not just our family - many other people got lease orders from the irrigation department and they grow crops worth millions of rupees. So these people have the right to protect their crops,” he said.

As for flooding, he proposed that they alter their dykes to lessen the water pressure. “If the same situation prevails, we can cut through our dykes in order to reduce the water flow in the River Indus.”

He refused to believe that the dykes caused the Kot Almon Breach, claiming that it occurred due to negligence and the fact that officials had not spent anything on strengthening embankments in the last ten years. “Now the government is doing a good job, I hope there will be no more floods,” was his optimistic observation.

The residents have appealed to everyone they can think of, from the area’s administration and provincial government to the president. However, the irrigation officials are busy strengthening the left dyke of the Indus near Belo Bungalow - the irrigation staff’s residence. They have received no orders to remove the private bunds. “We have been given orders to strength the main dykes,” said a sub-engineer, Zaffar Soomro, who was supervising development work. “How can go inside to demolish the private bunds set up around irrigated land?”

He claimed that all the residents were satisfied with the development work. “We have almost completed our work. We are confident that there will be no breach, even if a super-flood hits the area.”

Published in The Express Tribune, July 29th,  2011.

COMMENTS (2)

khan of quetta | 12 years ago | Reply we should have plantation along the rivers so that we can decrease the power of floods
Ali Ahmed | 12 years ago | Reply

. When any catastrophy may come and hit the areas these ministers will come up with different lame excuses.

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