Jacobabad escapes as water diverted

SUKKUR: Authorities in Sukkur have decided to cut the Noor Wah embankment in an effort to shield Jacobabad city and the Shahbaz airbase from floodwaters.

Receiving directives from Ijaz Jakhrani, the federal sports minister who hails from Jacobabad, the water has now been diverted to the kachcha areas of Garhi Khairo. Moving along Qamber-Shahdadkot, the water is expected to end up in Manchar Lake in Dadu district and evacuation in Qamber-Shahdadkot has begun.

Following cuts in the Tori and Ghouspur embankments, water had entered Noor Wah, which is half a kilometre from Shahbaz airbase and two kilometres from Jacobabad town. According to sources, the embankments of Noor Wah were in a vulnerable condition and could have developed breaches at many places.

DPO Jacobabad Perwez Chandio told The Express Tribune that this was the natural route of water therefore it would pass through without causing any considerable damage.

Irrigation officials, however, disagreed. Speaking on condition of anonymity, they said that it seemed as if the situation had spiralled out of the administration’s control which is why they were making  such decisions. They said that this water could go past Garhi Yaseen and into the Kirthar Canal, causing the lake to overflow and inundate towns and villages in the area.

Meanwhile, water level at the Guddu and Sukkur barrages is constantly receding. On Friday evening, upstream water level at Guddu Barrage was recorded at 956,878 cusecs and downstream water level was recorded at 956,340 cusecs. At Sukkur barrage, the upstream water level was 1.05 million cusecs and downstream water level was 1.02 million cusecs.

Published in The  Express Tribune, August 14^th, 2010.