‘Rehabilitated Manchhar Lake embankments to help protect nearby villages and towns’

HYDERABAD: The World Bank technical mission for Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project Irrigation Component visited the rehabilitated flood protection infrastructure of Manchar Lake, including embankments.

The mission comprised Ahsan Tehsin, senior disaster risk management specialist and task team leader, Amparo Samper Hiraldo, senior disaster risk management specialist, Alessandro Palmieri, consultant, Jaun Soler Cabado, consultant, Hendrik Arnold Vernoon, consultant, Bilal Khalid, disaster Risk management specialist, and Aijaz Shaikh, consultant.

After the heavy floods in 2022, the rehabilitation and construction work on Manchhar Lake was carried out by the Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project, irrigation department component, funded by the World Bank.

The SFERP has responded to the impacts of the floods in Sindh by rehabilitating selected infrastructure to improve the climate change and disaster resilience of communities and build back better infrastructure.

Iqbal Ahmed Palejo, additional director of the Sindh Flood Emergency Rehabilitation Project briefing on Aral Wah of Manchar Lake, said that Aral Wah has been widened to accommodate the 52,000 cusecs discharge from Manchar Lake to the River Indus during high floods

About the Aral Head regulator, he said that foundations were provided with a total of 120 piles of 80 feet depth and 1 metre diameter.

Palijo shared that under the project various components have been completed including raising and strengthening of Manchar Containing Bund (RD 0 to RD100), raising and strengthening of the Left Aral Bund (RD 0 to RD 19+500), remodeling and rehabilitation of the Aral Head Regulator (MC RD 0+000), remodeling & rehabilitation of the Aral Tail Regulator (Aral Left Bund RD 2+000), and rehabilitation and remodeling of the Danster Channel and its head & tail regulator at RD 62 on Manchhar Lake.

About the Danister Channel, he said that a 17-kilometre- long retaining wall was provided on both sides of the channel to protect the villages near by Manchhar Lake and the discharge capacity was increased from 500 cusecs 3,500 cusecs

About the Danister Tail Regulator, he said that the Danister Canal was reconstructed for 6,000 cusecs capacity.

Naeem Arif, project implementation consultant, briefed the World Bank technical mission that Manchhar Lake was fully rehabilitated after the heavy floods of 2022

He said that with the rehabilitation of Manchhar Lake embankments, the nearby villages and towns like Sehwan, Bubak, and Bhan Syedabad will be protected from future heavy floods and disasters