HYDERABAD: Divisional Commissioner Hyderabad Syed Khalid Hyder Shah has directed the officers of Irrigation Department to share their schedule with the concerned Deputy Commissioners regarding the annual closure of canals so that drinking water can be stored for public.

To meet the requirement of water during the closure canals, WASA should ensure storage of water to deal with the shortage of drinking water during the annual closure for repair and de-silting work. He was presiding over a meeting to review the arrangements of water supply during the closure of canals at his office today.

Deputy Commissioner Hyderabad Tariq Qureshi, Deputy Commissioner Matari Lal Dino Mangi, Chief Engineer Kotri Barrage Haji Khan Jamali, WASA, SIDA, Irrigation departments' engineers and other concerned officers attended the meeting. The Deputy Commissioners of the division participated in the meeting through video link.

Speaking in the meeting, Commissioner Hyderabad said that the de-silting of canals and regulators is necessary to strengthen the irrigation system not only to ensure the supply of water to the tail-end areas but also deal with flood situation.

Briefing the gathering, Chief Engineer Kotri Barrage Haji Khan Jamali said that the Irrigation Department is working for the improvement of Irrigation System so that the farmers can be benefited for cultivation and the shortage of clean drinking water can also be ended. In this regard, the Karo Ghunghro drain is being restored to stop the sewage flowing into the fresh water canals as after its completion the sewage water would be drained out directly into the sea.

He informed that after removal of encroachments from both sides of Wadhu Wah, road would be constructed under ADP scheme which has been approved by Government of Sindh adding that after completion of this scheme the fresh water would be supplied to Rani Bagh, Niaz Stadium and public school Hyderabad. He assured that in the annual closure of canals from December 25 to January 10, 2024, close coordination with WASA would be ensured for supply of drinking water to the people during the closure.

On this occasion, concerned WASA officer said that water has been stored in the filter plants as per requirement, while a plan is being worked out to stop the flow of sewage in Wadhu Wah. After completion of development scheme of Wadhu Wah the problem of sewage in fresh water will be solved permanently.

In the meeting all DCs briefed the commissioner about the water storage in their concerned districts during closure.

Later, DC Hyderabad Syed Khalid presiding over a meeting in his office about Divisional Task Force for Polio has said that after positive environmental sample in Hyderabad, the health department and the polio teams need to take more effective measures. He said that the Deputy Commissioners of all the districts should improve the coverage and bring the refusal cases to zero. Besides Deputy Commissioners of the division, DHO Hyderabad Dr Lala Jafar and health department officers attended the meeting.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023