Akram Canal revamp on the cards
The Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) is planning to undertake the rehabilitation of the Akram canal, whose discharge capacity has decreased by 25 per cent due to damages to the canal lining and the structures. In this regard, an environmental impact assessment (EIA) hearing for the project was held at the SIDA's office in Hyderabad on Thursday.
Off-taking from the right side of the Kotri Barrage, the Akram Canal is also called the lined canal. It is a perennial canal with a designed capacity of 3,714 cusecs and a command area stretching over 594,640 acres across three districts. The canal's total length is 76.5 canal miles and it is lined along 50 per cent of its total length.
At the hearing, SIDA research and development general manager Muhammad Ehsan Laghari said the canal's reduced flows had created water a shortage, mainly in tail-end areas in Badin and Tando Muhammad Khan districts. He said the rehabilitation project was essential for the restoration of the flows to the designed capacity from the current maximum level of 2,800 cusecs.
This was also pointed out by Left Bank Canal Area Water Board chairperson Qabool Muhammad Khatian, who also heads the Sindh Chamber of Agriculture. He said the reduced discharge from Akram canal had created water shortage in Badin, and emphasised the "urgent need for [the] rehabilitation of the canal."
Muhammad Ali, an official of MM Pakistan- a consultant firm providing services to the SIDA- stated that encroachments on the canal's embankment include around 3,000 homes and water supply and drainage lines. "The government ought to remove [these] encroachment[s] and stop the release of untreated wastewater and solid waste into the canal," he stressed.
Moreover, technical adviser Khadim Sufi said the cemented blocks with which the canal was lined had broken and fallen on the canal's bed from RD-0 to RD-191. He added that not just the construction of new blocks was required, but the removal of the fallen blocks was also essential.
The scope of the planned restoration includes the removal and disposal of the canal lining from RD-0 to RD-191, construction of retaining walls in Hyderabad up to RD-38, raising and strengthening of the embankment from R-191 till the end of the canal and the reinstatement of inspection and non-inspection paths. The replacement of 13 regulators, four cross regulators, one escape structure, eight road bridges and six pedestrian bridges are also a part of the proposed project. The project's key impacts include land acquisition, mainly in tail-end areas, for bridges and structures, as well as temporary land acquisition for diversions and maintaining the irrigation supply during construction.
According the EIA, "The impacts may include [the] change of land use and loss of habitat." Besides, the rehabilitation project will also require the relocation of gas supply lines of the Sui Southern Gas Company Limited.
Water samples collected from different locations of the canal showed the canal's water has higher pH, turbidity and arsenic levels in certain areas. There are almost 17,000 trees located in the area falling under the project's scope and the project's benefits include increased agricultural productivity and increased income of the community.
However, according to SIDA spokesperson, the cost of the project has not been estimated so far.
Published in The Express Tribune, August 17th, 2020.