No accounting of irrigation water usage in Sindh: Assembly told

[Naveed Yaseen]

The telemetry system, introduced around six to seven years ago by former President Pervez Musharraf with a huge money to assess water discharge, was not functioning in Sindh, Minister for Irrigation and Power Jam Saifullah Khan Dharejo informed Sindh Assembly on Friday during the question hour.

“The telemetry system is not working because there were irregularities in its purchase,” he said in reply to a question by opposition member Arif Mustafa Jatoi.

He said that a huge amount of money was spent on this system but it remained non-functional and added that without this system, vigilance at canals/barrages was not possible. He said the responsibility of running this system was assigned to Wapda and it should at least take action against the elements who misappropriated funds.

He said Musharraf used to claim that he had managed to reduce the estimated RBOD cost to Rs14 billion but, in fact, its revised estimated cost had reached up to Rs29 billion and it would be completed by December 2009 to recharge Manchar Lake with fresh water. He said they were not getting “enough funds” to expedite the RBOD project. To a question by Jam Tamachi, the minister said Wapda has admitted flaws in the design of RBOD.

To a question by Arif Mustafa Jatoi, the minister said that Sukkur barrage was commissioned in 1932 but the colonial rulers did not mention its life in the relevant documents. He guessed its age was 100 years and mentioned that a defect was luckily detected in it few years ago and it was rectified on time.

When the opposition member said it was a major disaster, the minister replied that it was in fact the result of negligence of the previous provincial government.

Jatoi said that around 60 percent agriculture of Sindh depend on Sukkur barrage, which generated Rs80 billion but the government had only fixed over Rs10m on its annual maintenance.

Dharejo said that they had demanded Rs2 billion and PC-1 had also been prepared in this regard. The minister agreed that a committee should be formed to ascertain the life of the barrage.

Jam Tamachi said that contractors committed irregularities in various schemes but no action was taken against them.

The minister said that the estimates of schemes were often “over-inflated” and loopholes also existed in the projects. He said that the department had taken action against several contractors but “unfortunately” many people came to the rescue of such rogue elements.

Replying to a question by Jatoi, the minister said that he had not accused Punjab of stealing Sindh’s water. He said there was an acute water shortage from April to June, which was unprecedented in the last 10 years. Water was being taken away from Chashma-Jehlum link canal but the new government resolved this problem within few days.

On a question from opposition leader Jam Madad about the criteria of sharing water during shortage period, the minister said in these circumstances they lay focus on crop pattern. —IA

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