Mushtaaq Gaadi

English | اردو We must address the role of multi-million rupee constructions in flooding the homes and lands of millions. This summer’s flash floods in southwest Punjab, northern Sindh and eastern Balochistan, have once again exposed the hazardous nature of water resource engineering in the Indus drainage basin. In 2010, barriers built to protect multi-million rupee barrages—protective dykes and marginal bunds—caused an unprecedented flood disaster where one-fifth of Pakistan was inundated, and more than 20 million people were directly affected. In 2011, the flawed design of the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) caused colossal floods and damages in lower parts of Sindh. Originally built to drain water from more than two million hectares of land in Sindh, it has since wrecked havoc. The run-off water from heavy monsoon rains failed to find an inlet—or entrance–into the LBOD, turning the region into a kind of watery grave. And in 2012—this year—the vast irrigation network on the right bank of the Indus River blocked the mighty hill torrents of the Suleiman and Khirthar Range from reaching the Indus River. Instead of naturally draining out, the hill torrents breached canal embankments and drowned large parts of central Pakistan. Why engineer think worsens floods Man-made structures, […]