Sindh govt to build 42 small dams: CM

Built over rain-fed stream, Kalidas Dam inaugurated in Thar

HYDERABAD:

indh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has expressed hope that small dams will resolve water woes in the province's deserts. The provincial government is constructing 42 small dams which, after completion, will supply water to 87 villages besides irrigating around 85,000 acres of agricultural land, he said.

Inaugurating the Rs333 million Kalidas Dam in Nagarparkar, Tharparkar district, on Wednesday, the CM said that 23 such dams have been built so far and the work on 11 other dams will finish by July, 2022.

He added that the Karoonjhar mountain range in Nagarparkar, stretching to around 400 square kilometres, was the catchment area for the small dams.

The Kalidas dam has been built over Ghodharo Nai, a rain-fed stream, located a kilometre to the west of Nagarparkar. After the recent monsoon rains, the dam has stored 13 feet water out of its total capacity of 15 feet, added Shah.

"This dam is a storage facility and three months have passed since the last rainfall but still 13 feet of water is available in the dam," the CM said, adding that water would remain available in the dam for the whole year till the next monsoon season.

During monsoon rains this year, the mountain region received around 13 inches of rainfall which amounts to 111,000 acre feet of water.

"Before the construction of these dams, rainwater flowed towards Rann of Kutch in India, and the local communities could not avail that water for long," he explained, observing that Nagarparkar used to suffer severe water shortages before the construction of these dams. Currently, 23 small dams are providing water to 50 villages, while 21 streams have been identified to feed the dams, according to the CM.

Shah credited the Pakistan Peoples Party's successive governments in the province for delivering in Tharparkar. "Look at the roads, bridges, small dams, coal and power projects, employment opportunities and RO plants; we have given almost every facility to the people of Thar," he claimed.

According to him, coal mining, power generation and RO plants have created employment avenues for the area residents.

He said that his government is also establishing educational institutions with campuses like NED and LUMHS in the first phase in Tharparkar which will be followed by full-fledged universities. The CM blamed Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf's federal government for snatching livelihoods and making lives of the poor people difficult through unbridled food price inflation and redundancy.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 29^th, 2020.