Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah directed the local government and irrigation departments to be alert to face the forthcoming flood like situation.
The cleanliness work of nullahs and strengthening of embankments of River Indus must be continued on war footings, he said.
He said this while presiding over a meeting at CM House on the cleanliness of nullahs and strengthening of embankments of River Indus. The meeting was attended by senior Minister for Education Nisar Khuhro, Health Minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro, Chief Secretary Siddique Memon, Principal Secretary to CM Alamuddin Bullo, SMBR Rizwan Memon, Irrigation Secretary Zaheer Hyder Shah and various other senior officers.
Mythologists Chief Rasheed briefed the meeting said that about 50 to 55 millimetres rain is expected in Tharparkar, Umerkot, Badin, Thatta and Karachi on July 12 and 13 but there are no chances of heavy storm.
Local Government Minister Jam Khan Shoro said that there are 30 major nullahs in the city, of them six most important nullas are being cleared through heavy machinery. He said that the District Municipal Corporation (DMCs) of the city has around 520 nullas and they are also being cleaned.
He said that most of the nullahs are massively encroached. Giving the example of Mahmoodabad Nullah, he said its 1.5 kilometre is badly encroached where machinery cannot be landed or moved.
“We have started manual work to clean these portions,” he said and added that on Gujjar Nullah, some 16 choked points were identified and most of them have been cleared to carry water drains.
Shoro said that the work orders for desilting of four major nullahs have been issued. The desilting of all the nullahs at a time is quite difficult, he said. The Gujjar Nullah is 14 kilometres long. In the first phase, the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation (KMC) is working to clear most dumped and choked areas and after that, the excavation would continue till six months.
“Though it is a temporary work, even then it would cater to the need of the next one year,” he said.
The chief minister said that the actual width of the nullahs is around 200 feet but they have been reduced to eight to ten feet now and at some points, hardly four feet width have been left by the encroachers. On this, Shoro said that 30,000 families are settled along and on the Gujjar Nullah.
“We would have to bring a major scheme to remove the encroachments and line these nullahs with cement and concrete so that they cannot be encroached in future,” he suggested.
The chief minister asked the Karachi commissioner, local government minister and his entire team of KMC and water board and to ensure proper pumping out of rain water in time.
“You must hire generators and fix them in low lying areas and start pumping as it starts raining,” he directed.
The chief minister also directed Chief Secretary Memon and Karachi Commissioner Aijaz Ali Khan to coordinate with K-Electric to keep their system, at least at the pumping stations right from Dhabeji to the city, perfect so that water supply to city could be continued during the heavy rains.
The chief minister had already provided Rs 160 million to KMC for desilting of storm water drains.
Irrigation Secretary Zaheer, while briefing the chief minister, said that the River Indus is in low flood these days. The water level at Guddu Barrage has reached 325,000 cusecs because of the heavy rains on Koh-e-Sulaiman. The rain on the mountainous area has developed a pressure on our river system, he added.
He said that the work on 9 different vulnerable bunds (embankments) is in progress from one month. They are Qadirpur Loop Bund, Qadirpur Shank Bund, Ulra Jagir and Faridabad Bunds at Khairpur, Mud Band at Noushehro Feroz, Sujawal and Monarki Bands and Mulla Katiar Bunds.
The chief minister said that he has already provided Rs 200 million to the irrigation department for strengthening of weak buds.
“I am not happy that during the time of low floods, breaches develop in the embankments of some canals,” he said and directed the irrigation secretary to focus on the strengthening and monitoring of the system.
Senior Minister for Education Khuhro said that there is a huge water reservoir in River Indus but the rotation system has been adopted on Rohri and some other canals.
Health Minister Mehtab, while supporting Khuhro, said that the rotation system is adopted when water shortage occurs but in this season of heavy rains and medium floods, it is surprising for him.
The chief minister directed the irrigation secretary to send him a detailed report within one week on the rotation system and explain why this has been adopted even in the low flood conditions.
The chief minister also said that the poisonous water being released from Punjab has caused serious damage to the lands of Ghotki where water logging and salinity have become a serious threat to the agriculture. “I want a detailed report on this issue to discuss in the next cabinet meeting,” he said.
Discussing the rehabilitation facilities, Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) Director General Salman Shah said that he has provided de-watering pumps to every district while other facilities like tents and mosquito nets have also been made available.
Khuhro said that in case of emergency, tent cities may be set up to provide shelter to the flood affected people instead of giving them shelter in the schools. “The temporary settlement in schools causes serious problems like damages to the building, furniture and fixtures,” he said.
The chief minister agreed with the senior minister and directed the PDMA to be ready for such an arrangement if needed.