Sukkur Barrage braces for deluge from north

SUKKUR: The fate of hundreds of thousands of people in southern Sindh province lies with a 90-year-old barrage that directs the flow of water from the mighty Indus River into one of the world´s largest irrigation systems.

Sindh has been pounded by weeks of torrential rain that have flooded farmlands across the province, but now torrents from swollen tributaries in the mountainous north are coursing down the Indus, due to arrive in coming days. The river rises in Tibet and bisects Pakistan as it meanders more than 3,000 kilometres south to the Arabian Sea near Karachi.

Water from the Indus is already lapping over its banks in several places, and unless the Sukkur Barrage can control the flow, catastrophe will result. Originally known as Lloyd Barrage, it was considered an engineering marvel when completed in 1932, capable of discharging 1.4 million cubic metres of water per second through 19 steel gates hinged between stone pillars. It is the centrepiece of the city, a favourite site for tourists to photograph, and also provides a key bridge across the river.

Water is redirected by the barrage to a series of canals totalling nearly 10,000 kilometres that thread through farmlands, but “silt has been piling up and it is not being removed,” said Shah, adding the canals hadn´t been dredged since 2010.

Engineers were scrambling Sunday to reinforce Ali Wahan levee, a crucial curve of the river Indus in the city that is threatened by the swollen river. Optimism, and a bit of time, are the only relieving factors. Overseer Shahid Hussain says “ flooding caused by local rain should have receded by the time the water from the north courses through. But if it does rain again closer to home, the situation could change quickly. “Fortunately the forecast suggests there will be no rains in coming days,” Minister Shah said.