KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah with the approval of the cabinet has decided to convene a two-day international conference to discuss the destruction caused by floods in the province and explore technical ways to reconstruct the irrigation and draining system so that future calamities impact could be mitigated.
“Our river system, bridges on River Indus, drainage systems such as RBOD, LBOD, MNV, and flood protection embankments have failed to sustain the impact of heavy downpours and floods of 2022, therefore we have to gather all the experts, including the world bank to discuss the floods and necessity of redesigning the irrigation and drainage system so that future climate pressures could be sustained accordingly.”
This he said while presiding over a Sindh cabinet meeting at CM House on Monday. The cabinet meeting was attended by provincial ministers, advisors, special assistants, chief Secretary Sohail Rajput, PSCM Fayaz Jatoi, and other concerned officers.
Minister Irrigation Jam Khan Shoro told the cabinet that in monsoon 2022, Sindh witnessed extreme rainfall and torrential rains on Khirthar hills resulting in massive flooding in the province.
Shoro said that previously, a major disaster occurred during the riverine flood of 2010, in which a breach occurred at Tori Bund on the right-side bank of the Indus River. He added that the area inundated during the 2010 flood was about 1.3 million acres and the quantum of water was about 4.9 MAF. Whereas, during recent rain-related flooding on the Right Bank of Indus; an area of around 2.2 million acres was inundated with approximately 14 MAF quantum of water.
Similarly, the heaviest rainfall on the left bank of the Indus inundated area of around 14 lac acres with 8 MAF. The total quantum of rainwater in right and left banks collectively becomes about 22 MAF, which is almost four times the volume of Tarbela Reservoir, Jam Khan told the cabinet.
