Sukkur Barrage with its imposing architectural beauty and yellow-stone and steel structure over the River Indus is a main source of irrigation for Sindh, covering over 10 million acres of farmland. This work of engineering skill revolutionised the irrigation system in the province.
A visible change in the life-style of the people of this area had been noticed in the last 40-50 years. British rulers constructed the Sukkur Barrage in 30s.
The Barrage was saved from a disaster in 2004-05 by the timely initiative of President General Pervez Musharraf. A massive rehabilitation work of Sukkur Barrage was started under the directives of the President and it was completed ahead of the deadline, before the current monsoon, at an estimated cost of Rs 887 million.
Army Engineers and Frontier Works Organisation (FWO) jointly achieved this task and saved over Rs 125 million.
In the present flood season more than 500,000 cusecs water has passed so far through the gates of Sukkur Barrage and the irrigation system has been found quite strong and intact.
According to experts the recent rehabilitation of the structure has prolonged the life of Sukkur Barrage and system for another 60 to 70 years.
The rehabilitation work was initiated on November 22, 2004 after the Sindh Chief Minister requested President Musharraf to entrust the work to army engineers as the Sindh Irrigation Department lacked the required technical expertise and heavy machinery etc. At this the FWO was directed to go ahead with it without going into formalities.
Earlier, the irrigation engineers had noticed damage in the Bay No 1, 2 & 3 of the barrage. They had conducted some remedial measures but failed to control the damage. Ultimately, the help was sought from the Federal Government.
The army accepted this as a challenge, and the entire work force of FWO led by its in-charge, Brigadier Javed Ashraf Bajwa reached at the Sukkur Barrage site in last November. They raised a hollow plate bridge to connect Right Bank with the Barrage island to go ahead.
Initially, the FWO installed 60 tube wells at the right pocket of the Sukkur Barrage to drain out accumulated water to dry out Bay No 1, 2 & 3 area.
Sheet piles weighing 100 tonnes were imported from Belgium on priority basis, and were laid in the foundation of the barrage pond along with Bay No 1, 2 & 3.
The FWO engineers to carry out the necessary excavation from the barrage pond in the adjoining area of Dadu Canal also raised two cofferdams at the up and down stream of the barrage. The engineers also dragged out the damaged old sheet piles of British-era.
According to Engineer-in-Chief Pak Army, Lieutenant General Muhammad Zubair, prime objective of the rehabilitation plan was safety of the barrage at all costs, and its completion before the Kharif season-2005, because otherwise it would have had adverse impact on the agricultural economy of the province.
The need was also emphasised upon the FWO Task Force to complete the task before the flood season, so that the work could be tested with the flow of gushing water of flash floods of 2005.
It may be mentioned that the work has been satisfactorily tested according to versions obtained by APP from Chief Engineer Sukkur Barrage, Muhammad Nawaz Memon and Superintending Engineer Muhammad Haroon Memon.
A few days back Federal Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Ali Khan Jatoi also visited Sukkur Barrage and he too was satisfied with the uninterrupted heavy flow of flood water particularly from the area near the Bay No 1, 2 & 3 which had been the focus of FWO's rehabilitation work.
To reduce and finally eliminate the chances of failure, FWO also got the valuable cooperation from the Sindh Irrigation Department, besides, hiring the services of a reputed consultant for short-term strategy. The FWO also advised the Sindh Irrigation Department for conducting a long-term strategy for further revamping and improving the irrigation system of Sukkur Barrage, as well as its structure. For this the same consultant was asked to conduct a long-term strategy. Report on the long-term strategy for Sukkur Barrage is expected would be completed by November 2005.
The water related issues of the country were almost neglected in the past, but it was President General Pervez Musharraf who took them on priority and a strategy for it was launched under WAPDA's Vision-2025 programme. President Musharraf in a recent speech had dilated upon the fast depletion of water resources, low per capita water storage, the wastage of flood waters beyond Kotri Barrage and the need for building big dams for storage of water for future utilisation for a sustainable agriculture development.
The recent devastation in Nowshera and Charsadda by flooding waters is enough to prove his statement.
The President had remarked about Kalabagh Dam to serve as a carryover dam also used for generating cheaper hydropower electricity.
Recalling the role of army engineers during five months of their work at Sukkur Barrage, the President described Sukkur Barrage as the lifeline of Sindh's agriculture economy. He had further remarked that any damage to the Barrage would have devastated the entire provincial irrigation system.
Engineer-in-Chief Lieutenant General Muhammad Zubair said that the 1000 FWO workers, including skilled and unskilled labour, had executed the work on day and night basis. No foreign technology was borrowed or acquired in the rehabilitation work, and the entire work was performed by FWO through local and indigenous resources.
FWO has also assured the Sindh Irrigation Department for their help and cooperation and technical expertise in future, after the compilation and submission of report by the consultant.