Hyderabad: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah has announced plans to rehabilitate and revive the natural route of Dhoro Puran to Shakoor Lake, as reported on July 26.
The announcement addresses significant issues caused by the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) project from the 1980s. The LBOD, constructed by the federal government, has led to severe environmental and agricultural problems. The excavation of its spinals blocked natural waterways, resulting in floods that submerged lands in Badin, Mirpurkhas, Sanghar, and Nawabshah, causing land degradation, salinization, and damage to the wetland ecosystem.
To address these issues, the Sindh government plans to construct a Spinal Escape regulator at RD 210 and rehabilitate Dhoro Puran. This initiative aims to restore the natural drainage routes and mitigate the adverse effects on local livelihoods and ecosystems.
CM Shah explained that from 1984 to 1997, Wapda implemented the LBOD Stage-I project to alleviate waterlogging and salinity in 1.27 million acres across several districts. The system, including the LBOD spinal drain and its associated drainage network, was designed to channel excess salinity to the sea via the Kadhan Pateji Outfall Drain (KPOD) and the Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain (DPOD).
The LBOD system, comprising 261.12 km of spinal drain, 99 km of KPOD/DPOD, 43 km of tidal link, 1,666 km of surface drains, and 1,673 drainage wells, was transferred to the Sindh Irrigation Department in 1993 but struggled with heavy rains and was returned to Wapda. It was handed back to the Sindh Irrigation Department in 2002.
CM Shah noted that the LBOD effectively managed stormwater during the heavy rains of July 2022, thanks to desilting and de-weeding. However, the 2020 and 2022 floods exposed the system’s deficiencies, impacting agricultural lands and wetland ecosystems.
The Sindh government’s new project aims to enhance drainage efficiency, protect agricultural lands from waterlogging and flooding, and improve agricultural productivity and farmers’ livelihoods. The initiative was discussed in a recent program attended by Minister for Irrigation Jam Shoro, Secretary Irrigation Zareef Khero, and local representatives
