Dispute over settlements in riverbed

HYDERABAD, March 27: Sindh Minister for Irrigation Jam Saifullah Dharejo has opposed the rapidly growing number of settlements and housing schemes in the Indus riverbed along Kohisar strip in Latifabad and said the people investing money in these schemes are risking their capital and also their lives. The minister, however, agreed to form an experts committee to look into feasibility of a proposal for erecting a wall to protect the settlements when an MQM minister and an MNA came up with the proposal. Accompanied by provincial ministers Zahid Bhurgari and Zubair Ahmed Khan who belongs to the MQM and MNA Tayyab Hussain and Secretary of Irrigation Rafiq Memon, Mr Dharejo visited the flood-affected dykes in Latifabad and Qasimabad talukas on Sunday and said a uniform policy should be framed to deal with commercial activities in and around the riverbed. He asked Hyderabad DCO Aftab Khatri to hold a meeting with MQM representatives and revenue officials on the issue of encroachments illegal and commercial schemes. He said that people investing money in such schemes were jeopardising not only their capital but also their lives. "It is a grave issue. We face such problems throughout Sindh and we had to take action (to deal with them)," he said. He asked the DCO to act in impartial manner after determining how such schemes were allowed. "We removed a 20-km private levee between Ghotki and Tori embankment which was larger than a normal irrigation bund. It was one of the factors that caused a breach in Tori," the minister said.Sukkur Barrage Chief Engineer Agha Ejaz expressed reservations over the proposal and said the protective wall would further squeeze the river`s course and increase the pressure on the right side. Even the main Kohisar road ran through the riverbed, he said. The proposal for the wall was presented by Zubair Ahmed Khan and MNA Tayyab Hussain who said that they could not leave these settlements and villages alone. The Kohisar area is a long strip along the river`s bank in Latifabad taluka dotted with settlements and farms which were inundated during floods. The floodwater had also entered the mono-technical institute where internally displaced people were accommodated and they had to be shifted to other camps. Agha Ejaz insisted that building the wall would require a new bund which would reduce the course of the river and open up avenues for more housing schemes. He said that recently a private bund on 5,000 acres had to be dismantled in Keti Jatoi for the sake of smooth flow of the river. His views were backed by managing director of the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) Ehsan Leghari. "Efforts should be made to keep the number of settlements near the riverbed at the minimum so that they are not affected during the flood season," he said. Unlike those who lived in kutcha areas, he said, people of these settlements would find it difficult to cope with flood because they were not accustomed to the river`s changing behaviour. SIDA controls the left bank of the river downstream Kotri barrage. Mr Dharejo observed that the proposed wall would cost billions of rupees and if it was built "everyone will demand such protective walls and it won`t be feasible in my opinion". Despite his opposition to the encroachments in the riverbed and because of MQM`s insistence on its proposal, he asked the secretary of irrigation to form a committee comprising former secretaries, including Idris Rajput, to examine the proposal. "Experts should see whether it is workable and if it is feasible then an initiative will be taken accordingly," he said. Till the committee came up with a decision, he said, the DCO should see to it that no new construction was allowed in the riverbed and FIRs should be lodged against violators. He called for a uniform policy to deal with commercial activities in the riverbed.The minister also visited Unit-10 of Latifabad, Sehrish Nagar and Ghallian front bund. SIDA`s managing director briefed the minister at the Ghallian bund and said that the dyke would be raised and paved with stones wherever necessary. He said that a retaining wall would be built at a place near Sehrish Nagar between 0/1-1/4 RD. An amount of Rs300 million would be spent on nine packages of Ghallian bund to cope with the overflowing of water during floods, he said. He said that land was being obtained to lift earth for strengthening the dykes because some people insisted it was their personal property and others said they would hand it over after the wheat harvest in April. Work on the Jamshoro front bund would also be carried out by May 31, he said. A representative of consultants hired by the government also stressed the need for obtaining land for strengthening the dyke at Ghallian. The minister accepted their demand and said priority should be given to strengthening the dyke. If an administrative action was needed the DPO and DCO should be asked to work in coordination with irrigation officials.