Due to heavy rains in Baluchistan, rainwater reaches FP Bund, breaches it, and floods and damages Manchar Lake, KN Shah, and the entire area.
Whenever there are heavy rains in Balochistan, rainwater reaches Flood Protective (FP) Bund and breaches it (years 1978, 95, 2007,10 and 22) and floods or damages Manchar lake, Khairpur Nathan Shah and whole area.
Up to 2007 when water breached FP bund, immediately breaches were being controlled, by controlling water between second line of defense Main Nara Valley Drain (MNVD) banks and FP bund up to Manchar Lake. Then the water was released as per capacity of drain-in Manchar Lake to drain-out in River. That was the proper procedure as per standard operating procedures. Manchar Lake and other areas were always safe and whole water was safely drained off.
Unfortunately during 2010, floodwater was diverted to Supro Bund that is third line of defense, which is usually not regularly maintained. In result Supro Bund immediately breached and whole area of Qamber, Mehar, Khairpur Nathan Shah (city) talkas, was under floodwater. Then the whole pressure was on Lake.
The quantum of water was four times more than the capacity of the Lake, and draining out from the lake was nearly nil. In the result, water over topped banks and the lake collapsed. There were extra huge losses.
Then without proper detailed investigation / technical evaluation, a billion rupees were spent on raising level and strengthening the banks, to make them safe to hold water pressure in the future. The technical issue /negligence was converted in to political issue. As such, no lesson learned for future.
During year 2022 Balochistan rainwater repeated the same action and even there were more damages, as more area was flooded. Again no investigation/ proper evaluation/ knowing real causes of such repeated damages, even after spending Rs. a billion with in 10 years, no any benefit from such works.
Now the department should consider and prepare alternate proposals to save the area from such repeated disaster and get Manchar Lake safe.
Way forward to Safe Manchar Lake
- Evaluate the actual causes / mistakes, to avoid such mechanism in the future.
- Consider to notifying area between Flood Protective Bund and Main Nara Valley Drain as flood zone and if there is more water, it may be accommodated there to reduce pressure on Manchar and other areas.
- Area near Manchar lake up to the Indus link be notified as flood emergent zone, for safety of the Lake, for getting water diverted there, to drain out in to the Indus safely from Larkana-Sehwan bund.
- If possible, Manchar may be provided a spillway of maximum capacity, to get the level of lake in safe limits. Or Manchar converted in to a proper dam, which will be a sweat water bank.
- Till that World Bank loan may not be spent without proper solving technical issues. But all cuts and breaches may be properly repaired from maintenance and repair department to get the area safe from normal rains.
Conclusion
Immediately a team of experts comprising foreign experts and senior most experienced engineers, who had worked in that area, may be engaged for evaluation / knowing actual defects/causes and designing / suggesting alternate proposals for sustainable project to get the area and the Lake permanently safe.