Prepared for the worst: With 17 spurs, irrigation dept hopes to fix Tori Bund’s most vulnerable point

Residents worry history may have repeated itself as officials 'ignore' Old Tori Bund.

TORI: At the most vulnerable point of the River Indus near Tori Bund, the government has built 17 spurs to make sure the water reverts back to its course.

When the Old Tori Bund was breached in 2010, it caused a massive flow of water to inundate Ghouspur Town and its surrounding areas. This year when the floods damaged a large part of the Punjab, the irrigation officials in Sindh also sprung into action and decided to strengthen the most vulnerable point of the Old Tori Bund.

In 2013, a total of 13 spurs were built across the one-kilometre-long stretch on the bund. Recently, the authorities have started work on four more spurs given the high pressure of water that hits the embankment. The reason why this point was declared 'most vulnerable' was because the river changes its course here. Since it takes a U-bend and then continues below, the water that hits the bend has greater impact.

"We have arranged two million cubic-feet worth of stones to fill these points and strengthen this site," Beghari-Sindh Feeder's Kashmore Division executive engineer Sultan Ahmed Mahar told The Express Tribune. "This situation developed recently as the river changes its course here and that adds pressure but we are capable of handling it," he said.

According to Mahar, the width of each spur ranges between 30 to 40 feet. "We have deputed officials to monitor these points round-the-clock," he said. "The chief minister and other higher authorities are also more concerned because this site is a dangerous point this year."

Once the four new spurs are ready, the officials will also start working on raising the height of the embankment in the same manner as they did with New Tori Bund nearly a week ago, said Mahar.

Worried residents

The officials may believe their last-minute attempt to strengthen the embankments will protect the nearby areas in case of floods, the residents are quite sceptical. "The officials have turned up at the eleventh hour when the river has already started eating the bund at this point," said a landlord of the katcha area, Nazir Ahmed Kolachi, as he pointed to one of the spurs under construction. "You can imagine the situation if there has been a high or super flood. I fear history would have repeated itself."



However, Mahar refuted the allegations that the irrigation department has always ignored Old Tori Bund and insisted that they started work on the bund as early as July this year. "We have been working for two months, filling these spurs with stones and the work is nearly complete," he assured.

In the limelight

Given the presence of the chief minister and the patron-in-chief of Pakistan Peoples Party, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, the workers in Tori area are working twice as hard, much to the surprise of the residents.

All the local irrigation department officials were gathered at the Old Tori Bund's most vulnerable point on Wednesday morning when Chief Minister Qaim Ali Shah was expected to make an appearance. Bulldozers were seen flattening the dirt path that led to the site, while tractors sprayed water on the dusty tracks. A lonely beldar, who works on the bund, was sprinkling white chalk and planting colourful flags on both sides of the tracks. Shah managed, however, to visit only Guddu Barrage that day.

But those who live nearby wonder what will happen when the floods become old news. "This is just for today. You will see nothing after chief minister's visit," said Allah Dino Lund, a resident of Tori. "We are thankful that there were no heavy rains and the flood was of low intensity, otherwise, the right side of the River Indus would have witnessed the same situation as we suffered in 2010."

Published in The Express Tribune, September 22^nd, 2014.