The Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project has been abandoned – a development that is likely to cause large-scale destruction in the already devastated districts of Dadu and Jamshoro and further displace millions of people.
The recent rains have inflicted heavy losses in Sindh while the flooding of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) in Badin, Mirpurkhas and Sanghar districts has left many homeless.
“The situation is getting worse along the RBOD as rainwater is flooding its nearby areas. The multi-billion rupees project has been abandoned because the authorities concerned did no have enough funds for it,” sources told Pakistan Today.
It is pertinent to mention that the federal government had extended the completion period of the Rs 29.20 billion RBOD project for two to three years due to insufficient finances. The scheme was to be completed by June 30, 2008, however, the lack of response from the federal government and seizure of funds for this project has left it in doldrums since the last four years, the sources added.
After failing to complete the project within the stipulated time, the federal government had extended the completion date last year and set June 30, 2012 as the date of completion.
The salinity and water-logging caused by this project has badly affected the agricultural lands of Jamshoro district.
So far, over 65 percent of the development work has been completed and the remaining work of the project would be finished after the remaining Rs 14 billion are released. Despite constant reminders of the provincial government, the authorities in Islamabad refuse to release funds citing financial crisis as the major reason.
Due to apathy of Islamabad, the contractor has removed around 700 heavy machines from the site of the project.
Interestingly, the federal government has released only 2.30 billion to the Sindh government from 2002 to June 2007-08 under the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Soon after the new government took control, the Centre withheld the payment citing reasons of economic crises.
