Water woes: Canal breach destroys wheat, cotton crops

BAHAWALPUR:

A 120-foot wide breach in the Ahmad Wah Canal on Tuesday at Kacha Bhatta in Ahmadpur Lama swept away ready-for-harvest wheat crop on a number of acres and damaged cotton and fodder crops in adjoining areas. The village’s streets were also flooded leaving around 500 families stranded in their homes. Several houses were also damaged.

Abdul Sattar and Ghulam Qadir of the village said several mud houses had collapsed. They said further damage was feared. Farmers Abdul Aziz, Abdul Qadir and Niaz Ahmad said at a protest demonstration against the Irrigation Department in Ahmadpur Lama the calamity had struck due to the negligence of the department staff.

They said that several hours had passed since the breach but no move had been made to repair the affected canal bank.

Ahmadpur Lama SDO Muhammad Khalid said the breach was apparently caused by the roots of sheesham trees next to the canal. He said a team of the department was working on repairing it. He said supply to the 500 cusecs canal had been stopped after the breach. Khalid said canal supply will be restored as soon as repairs were completed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2014.