Islamabad - The Sindh government is planning to carry out study for the construction of a new barrage to replace the existing Sukkur Barrage which is about to exhaust in a couple of decades, it was learnt reliably here Sunday.

The construction of a barrage is a time-consuming process therefore the provincial government has decided to conduct a feasibility study, in advance, for the construction of new Sukkur Barrage, official sources told The Nation.

With the existing condition, the Barrage is hardly going to survive for one decade and if proper renovation was done then it may last for another couple of decades, the official said.

“We have demanded funds from the federal government for the restoration of Sukkur Barrage but they didn’t agree so far, however even if they agree, the refurbishment will not extend the life of the barrage for long time.”

“The Sindh government is planning to conduct a feasibility study of a new barrage at Sukkur to replace the existing one which is about to lose its utility,” the official said. The study will help to find out the exact cost and completion time of the project, the official said.

It is pertinent to mention here that Sindh Irrigation Chief Engineer has recently told a parliamentary committee that the province had demanded funds for the renovation/rehabilitation of Sukkur Barrage, in 2004, however no step had been taken so far. He warned that Sukkur Barrage would be useless in next 10 years if it was not rehabilitated. He demanded allocation of Rs 16 billion for Sukkur Barrage project which would prolong its life for next 30 to 40 years.

However, the official said, with the proposed renovation the life of the barrage could be extended from 15 to 20 years and they will have to construct a new barrage during this time period, the official said.

This is a grace period for the province and if nothing was done, to construct a new barrage, then the damage to the provincial agriculture is eminent, he said. He said, “As per the estimate, the barrage is going to cost about Rs30 billion, however, it is time-consuming and we have to plan early.”

Sukkur Barrage is around 85 years old which was constructed by British government during 1932.Sukkur Barrage is a barrage on the River Indus near the city of Sukkur in the Sindh province and it took nine years to0 complete. Sukkur Barrage is used to control water flow in the River Indus for the purposes of irrigation and flood control.

It was only with the construction of the barrage that a controlled irrigation system started for the timely water supplies of the cultivated areas of Sindh. Seven canals diverges from the Sukkur Barrage, including Nara Canal one of the longest canal in the country, which irrigates around 7.70 million acre of land in Sindh.

Sindh has a very limited groundwater availability, less rains and high evaporation, therefore River Indus is the main source of water supply which irrigates a big chunk of the Sindh cultivated land.

Regarding the proposed national water policy, the official said that they had requested chief secretary Sindh to call the meeting of the concerned departments to finalise their recommendations in this regard.