Water is a scarce resource and there is a growing importance of efficient and productive use of water in economic development; the construction of Sehwan Barrage and its associated storage capacity is very important in order to conserve flood water in river flood plains. Water sector development in Sindh is not reliable and numerous modifications are needed in the plans either due to altered importance or due to economic constraints. The planned Sehwan Barrage is located near old historical town of Sehwan Sharif at about 3-miles downstream in the Indus river, but the local people demanded the change in location due to apprehension that the construction of barrage at Sehwan would water log the shrine of Lal Shahbaz Qalandar. The Sindh government had also requested to the federal government that barrage location will be more suitable at Rehmani Nagar rather than Sehwan, a city about 30 miles away from the planned location. The feasibility study of Sehwan Barrage Complex was conducted thrice in the last four decades.
It is the critical need of the time to construct Sehwan barrage without further delay, which will not only provide opportunity for supplying water to agriculture, assured supplies for urban and industrial purposes but also will save the flood water and that will supplement southern Rohri Canal command, part of Nara Canal below Chotiari reservoir and supplement assured supply to Kotri Barrage system. Due to slow growth in water infrastructure development; a holistic approach should be adopted for the construction of Sehwan Barrage so that scarce resources at are effectively used. Various plans of the federal and the provincial government need to be critically studied and prioritised with respect to their technical and economic parameters.
IMRAN AZIZ TUNIO,
Hyderabad Sindh, November 2.