LBOD repair: Committee of MPAs and MNAs to oversee removal of encroachments

All breaches along smaller drains of LBOD, KPOD, DPOD, branch drains closed, repair will be completed by June 30.

KARACHI:

Sindh Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah has directed officials to set up a district-level committee to remove encroachments from natural water drains, especially the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD). The committee will comprise MPAs, MNAs and members of the agriculture department who will submit their report within 10 days.

He also ordered that a contingency plan should be formulated by the irrigation department for improving the irrigation system.

While giving the chief minister a presentation, the irrigation minister, Babar Hussain Effendi, said that all the breaches along the length of the smaller drains of  LBOD, KPOD, DPOD and the branch drains have been closed and their repair will be completed by June 30. He informed Shah that all the executive engineers have been told to set up control rooms and warn all the stakeholders of any potential damage. Effendi said that the cost of repairs was around Rs8,990 million and around 63 per cent of the projects have been completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 6^th, 2012.