Sukkur barrage gate reopens
One of the 16 replaced gates of the Sukkur barrage, whose gates underwent serious damage in June, 2024, was formally opened in Sukkur on Monday by the Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Khan Shoro. Speaking on the occasion, the minister expressed hope that 28 more gates of the 66-gate barrage will also be changed by June, 2026.
"We are content to see 16 of the gates replaced successfully so far." According to him, the remaining pocket gates of the barrage will be supplanted in the third year of the project. He pointed out that the Pakistan-India battle, protests against construction of new canals on the Indus River and terrorism incidents impeded timely completion of the first phase.
He reiterated that the replacement of the old gates with the mechanized ones will reduce cumulatively 3,500 tones weight from the barrage. Shoro shared that a study is underway to construct a new barrage as a substitute one for the Sukkur barrage.
On May 11 this year, the minister had claimed that 14 gates had been changed while two more would follow suit by the end of June.
He recalled that after the collapse of one of the gates in June, 2024, and damage to the others, the standard operating procedures (SOPs) necessitated suspension of water supply in the Indus through that barrage so that the repair works can be undertaken.
However, such a scenario would have deprived a large number of Sindh's districts from water and that too for several months. As many as seven canals drawn water from this barrage while from its downstream the river flows towards the Kotri barrage, which happens to be the last engineering structure before the river meets the sea, in Jamshoro district. The Sindh government has planned to change 56 out of the 66 gates in a span of three years.
The irrigation minister also spoke about the water shortage woes which strike the province since the month of April every year.
"Our case has been that we need water in April every year and that in this month we should be given water according to our share," he emphasised. He maintained that if abundant water passes through the Indus river it happens only during monsoon season which often brings flash floods.
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