Take care, lest Sukkur Barrage gates wash away again: SAB

Farmers' body says irrigation authorities oblivious to the rain, flood situation

HYDERABAD:

The Sindh Abadgar Board, an association of farmers, finds the Sindh irrigation authorities oblivious with the irrigation challenges posed by the climate change manifested in the forms of floods and unusually torrential rains.

A meeting of the board, chaired by Mahmood Nawaz Shah on Monday in Hyderabad, emphasized that the irrigation department should start to take deluges and heavy rainfalls seriously.

"It's only a year ago when one of the gates of the Sukkur barrage were washed away even in below-normal flows of the river," reads a statement issued after the meeting. "This remains a stark reminder that the barrages and other irrigation networks need to be replaced, repaired, modernized, and, if possible, remodeled to enhance the capacities."

The growers referred to a renewed approach towards natural expanse of the rivers which is being considered in Punjab, saying that the Sindh government should also clear the waterways of all forms of encroachment. They recalled that in the past waterways and drains existed in the province which carried excess flood water.

Currently, those water routes have become clogged by highways, roads, housing schemes, farmlands, villages and other encroachments. "This mayhem needs to be stopped forthwith."

The SAB, however, acknowledged that moving the human settlements out of the natural waterways is going to be a daunting task. It will also require the government's resolve to reconstruct the road infrastructure and to remove other obstacles from the routes.

The board deplored that the forests which once existed on the riverbed have been chopped off, supplanted by agricultural fields and human settlement. The deforestation has added to intensifying the floods. The farmers contended that the present approach of insouciance towards the climate change effects is tantamount to sitting on a climate risk time bomb.

"Playing the victim card to seek international funding won't work until the government prepared and committed itself, allocates resources, and changes the current development strategy." The SAB believed that a practical strategy to mitigating the climate change risks will also help the government secure foreign funding.