Ravi water surge a boon for boaters

LAHORE: Swollen rivers are causing devastation all over the country, but the rising water level in the Ravi has been a blessing for boat operators.

“The floods have brought us luck. Business is thriving,” said Rehan Zia, an employee of the boat contractor at the Ravi, as a group of visitors stood around the boating service office looking to get tickets for a ride to Kamran Bara Dari.

The contractor has been making around Rs150,000 to Rs200,000 a day since August 1. It has 20 to 25 boats, accommodating 15 passengers each, and charges Rs25 per passenger to Kamran Bara Dari. Each boat has been making 15 to 20 full trips to the Bara Dari every day, Zia said.

Baba Jugnu, a boatman, said the extra business made up for last year’s poor showing during the peak season of July, August and September.

Titto Shah, another boatman, predicted that the business would thrive for another two months, provided the water level does not fall. “Obviously I do not want the Ravi to flood like the other rivers, but I hope the water level stays high,” he said.

His customers were pleased too. Elahi Bukht said the experience took him back to his youth when he would go on a family boat trip on the Ravi every year.

Zishan Ghuman, a post-graduate student at a public university, said this was his favourite place in Lahore. “I like to look at the small colourful boats parked on the banks and boatmen resting and chatting,” he said.

Another visitor said the river had “shrunk to the size of a drain” over the last 20 years. He recalled when the Ravi was full of turtles and fish and hosted rowing competitions among the city’s major colleges. “Those were enthralling times. People from far away used to visit Lahore to watch these competitions,” he added.

Water levels

The water flow in the River Ravi is 16,325 cusecs at Jassar, 29,990 cusecs at Siphon, 29,520 cusecs at Shahdara and 25,000 cusecs at Balloki.

Muhammad Akram, a Met Office official, said the river had swollen due to heavy rains in the area below Madhopur in India, and over the streams that feed into the Ravi. India has not released a substantial amount of water from the Theim Dam on the Ravi and is not expected to do so in the next seven days, he said. But there should be a small rise in the water level over the next three or four days as more rains are expected.

A city government official said more than half a million people living on the river bed and along its banks would have to be evacuated if the river flows reach 90,000 cusecs.

Settlements from Babu Sabu to Niazi Chowk including Ghoshal, Shafiqabad, Akram Park, parts of Union Council 84 and areas surrounding Saggian Bridge would be most vulnerable in case of a flood, he said. Areas from Niazi Chowk to Bund Road including Bhamian Gughian, Khokhar Pind, Karo and Mehmood Booti would be relatively less exposed, he said.

Saeed Ahmed, chief engineer of the Irrigation and Power Department, said there were more than a hundred dykes on the Ravi and could withstand water flows of 250,000 cusecs. He said there was no chance of a breach in the embankments.

Residents of low-lying areas situated on the banks of the Ravi have already been warned to be prepared for evacuation in case of a flood.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2010.