Probe report sought into RBOD projects

Committee on water resources orders filling of vacant posts in ministry

ISLAMABAD:

The Senate Standing Committee on Water Resources on Friday asked the ministry to submit a report on the investigations into Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) I and III – the two projects executed by the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) and then transferred to the Sindh government.

RBOD-I is a new name given to the Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD) and the RBOD-III had been conceived to carry Balochistan's effluent to the sea. The RBOD-II was executed by the Sindh government through the Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) and was primarily designed to bypass Manchhar Lake.

The three phases of the RBOD – I, II, and III - are an important outfall drainage project aimed at carrying effluent from upper Sindh and Balochistan to the Arabian Sea via the Gharo creek in the Thatta district of Sindh.

The RBOD-I brings water from the Miro Khan pumping station in Qambar-Shahdadkot district to Sehwan and falls into the RBDO-II through an Indus link built by Wapda. The RBOD-III, which starts from the Hairdin pump station in Balochistan, channels 1,200 cusecs wastewater via two routes.

The committee, which met with Shahadat Awan in the chair, reviewed the updated status of the recommendations given in its previous meeting. Water Resources Secretary Syed Ali Murtaza told the committee that the RBOD-I and III were completed on time but damaged in the rains and floods of 2022.

Wapda had prepared the PC-I and now required concurrence from the Sindh Irrigation Department, as RBOD-I and III were managed by the Sindh government, though, initially, the Sindh government had shown reluctance to own the two projects.

Additionally, the committee recommended that vacant posts up to BS-16 in the ministry and commission be filled as soon as possible.

Water Resources Minister Dr Musadik Malik stated that a request was made to the Federal Public Service Commission (FPSC) 13 years ago to fill these vacant posts, adding that the Ministry had now initiated the process, requesting the Establishment Division to fill the posts up to BS-16.

Furthermore, the Committee recommended that the Federal Flood Commission (FFC) should update its website regularly with current data on rivers and the monsoon. The secretary confirmed that the FFC website was reviewed regularly, with weather and flood updates uploaded daily.

Additionally, the committee unanimously ratified the nomination of Senator Saadia Abbasi as a member of the Board of Governors of the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources.