Sukkur residents brace for water shortage

All seven offshoots of the barrage are closed for annual repair.

SUKKUR: As the annual closure of the Sukkur Barrage canals started from the night between Monday and Tuesday, so did the misery of the residents.

Despite living on the right bank of River Indus, residents of Sukkur bear the brunt of acute water shortage from January 6 till January 20 every year.

Sukkur Barrage authorities have closed all seven offshoots of the barrage for annual repairs and maintenance. These canals will be reopened on the night between January 20 and January 21 after the maintenance programme is completed.



Each year, Sukkur Barrage authorities issue a notification 15 days ahead of the annual closure and direct the relevant utilities to make alternative arrangements to provide water to the citizens. However, no heed is paid to this notification and, resultantly, people have to run from one manual pump to another to fetch drinking water.

The North Sindh Urban Services Corporation (NSUSC) had taken over sanitation and water supply from the Sukkur Municipal Corporation in January 2011, with the aim to improve these services. Despite the lapse of four years, however, instead of taking things towards betterment, NSUSC has steered the city onto the brink of disaster.

Every year, the utility spends millions of rupees for diverting water from the left side, as very little water is left at the right bank of the river during the annual closure. But it continues to fail to provide water to the citizens. While corruption of millions of rupees has remained rampant during the last four years, no permanent solution to the yearly water shortage has been found.

Abdul Majeed Pathan, who recently took over as NSUSC managing director, told The Express Tribune that while residents of Sukkur and Rohri will be facing water shortage this year during the annual closure, it might not be as severe as the years before. He added that a permanent system to divert water from the left bank of the river is being installed with the help of the Asian Development Bank. After its completion, Sukkur will not suffer from water shortage in the coming years, he said.

Moreover, the managing director said that residents of Khairpur, who faced acute water shortage last year, will be relieved of the scarcity as water supply reservoirs with the capacity of 30 million gallons have been filled.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 7^th, 2014.