The mighty Indus feeds all the greedy

The story of how River Indus feeds the corrupt irrigation officials through floods

SUKKUR:

The mighty River Indus is Pakistan's lifeline. Millions of people in the agriculture sector rely on it for sustenance. Every now and then, however, a high flood proves quite troublesome for the thousands living in the riverine areas, damaging their crops and forcing them to abandon their homes and move to higher ground.

Even in this adversity, the mighty Indus proves quite a benefactor as it allows the irrigation officials ample opportunity to mint money. Interestingly, all the funds embezzlement and corruption done during the time of a flood goes unchecked. The irrigation officials cunningly choose this time of emergency to swindle millions of rupees in the name of repairs where seepage and erosion occurs.

A huge chunk of public money is spent on facilitating the visits of VIPs to these barrages and protective embankments, only to line pockets with more funds. The mighty Indus, with its generous heart, has been concealing this corruption for a long time.

Better late than early

It is a common practice in the irrigation department that vulnerable points of the protective embankments are spotted much ahead of the flood season. Subsequently, instructions are issued to the relevant officials to move heavy machinery, stone and earth-filled bags to those spots to avoid any mishap. Instead of fortifying the vulnerable points, however, the irrigation officials wait for a high flood to start eroding the protective embankment or let it start seeping before springing into action.

Read: River Indus in high flood at Kotri in Sindh: Met department



A retired officer of the irrigation department, speaking on the condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that corrupt officials hope for the erosion or seepage each year as it provides them the opportunity to mint money. The work carried out during a flood emergency does not require prior permission from the high-ups and is therefore seen as a golden opportunity to make money. Besides, he said, there is no check on how many truckloads of the stone or earth-filled bags have been emptied in the river, because the prime objective is to stop the erosion or seepage.

The contractors and officials connive together to charge heavy amounts for work which was never done in the first place, said the official. "For example, if a contractor claims he has dumped 100 truckloads of stones at the site of erosion, no one can challenge him, because over half of the stones dumped at the time of emergency are washed away by the strong current of water," he explained.

Guddu Barrage Chief Engineer Irshad Memon told The Express Tribune that vulnerable doesn't mean that seepage or breach could occur at that particular point. It is rather an assumption that in case of a high or very high flood, the wave might affect that point.

In a flood emergency, the irrigation department keeps heavy machinery, stones and earth-filled bags on the ready to cope with any situation, said Memon. Speaking about an emergency situation at the time of erosion or seepage, he said that the contractors immediately start dumping stones and earth-filled bags on the spot with the help of irrigation officials.

Read: Unsafe recreation : Five of a family drown in River Indus

As far as the number of truckloads is concerned, Memon reasoned that the irrigation officials are always present at the spot to keep account. Some officials might be involved in malpractice, but not everyone is the same, he defended.

Meanwhile, a retired chief engineer of the Guddu Barrage, Noor Mohammad Baloch, told The Express Tribune that as far as the matter of vulnerable points is concerned, each and every inch of the protective embankment is vulnerable, because it is earth filled. There are some points, however, where the water hits with added pressure. These are kept under observation to avoid any mishap, he said. He admitted that the work done during this period goes unchecked and unaudited.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 25^th, 2015.