Monsoon preparation: Contractors start work round the clock to fix LBOD

The drain broke in 12 locations leading to flooding in 2011.

HYDERABAD: Repairs have started on the gigantic drain which broke in 12 locations, leading to devastation during the torrential rains in Sindh last year.

More than five million people were displaced in ten districts but mostly in areas submerged by overflows from the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD).

The government handed over Rs1.5 billion in February for works on the LBOD, Dhoro Puran in Mirpurkhas and the other major drainage networks in seven southern districts of Sindh.

In addition to being late, the funding to fix the drain also falls short. An official with the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) said a total of Rs1.3 million per mile is needed. But as the drain spans 200 miles from Shaheed Benazirabad to Badin, this means approximately Rs2.6 billion is needed.  Additional costs will pile up as the drain’s height has to be raised six feet in many places, he said.

The embankments of the LBOD have also to be made motorable as the transport of heavy machinery to certain locations became impossible last year.

The drain developed major breaches of at least 100 feet or still longer. The small breaches and illegal cuts made by the farmers went into the thousands.

Habib Ursani, the director of the Left Bank Canals Area Water Board, agreed that the drain, which was built at a cost of Rs34 billion in 1998, needs more money for a thorough overhaul. “But, what we can do is ensure that all its vulnerable and damaged parts are strengthened and its height raised from Shaheed Benazirabad to Badin,” he told The Express Tribune. The board is responsible for the portion of the LBOD passing through Badin, besides the other irrigation networks in Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan and Badin districts.

Irrigation Secretary Babur Effendi contended that Rs1.5 billion was enough for the repairs. “We will be able to make it stronger than it was in 2011,” he told The Express Tribune on phone during a visit to LBOD in Badin on Monday. “Its capacity will also be enhanced.”

The restoration work began on April 15 after contracts were awarded to construction companies. A deadline of June 30 - two and a half months - has been given. A SIDA official was, however, skeptical that they would be able to wrap up in time without compromising on quality. “Even if the most sincere efforts are made, it is insufficient time for such a massive [task],” he said.

The irrigation secretary acknowledged that the work started late, but he was optimistic. “The deadline is June 30. But I will complete the work well within [the timeframe].”

According to Ursani, the numerous contractors will work round the clock. “The floods in 2010 caused more devastation to the irrigation system. But, the rehabilitation process began in March and was to be completed by the end of June in three and a half months. In comparison, the task before us is much smaller,” he claimed. One thing he failed to recall, however, is that the banks of the Indus were spared flooding in 2011 but the chances of the same happening to the LBOD this year are dim.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 1^st, 2012.