Contracts awarded for early replacement of Guddu, Sukkur barrages gates

SUKKUR: A high - virtual mission of the World Bank under the leadership of Task Team leader François Onimus discussed the rehabilitation of Guddu and Sukkur barrages. The meeting was informed that contract for replacement of certain gates of Guddu and Sukkur Barrages has been given on an urgent basis. The rehabilitation of Guddu and Sukkur Barrages is being implemented under the Sindh Barrages Improvement project of the Irrigation Department funded by the World Bank. The feasibility study of the Guddu and Sukkur barrage was conducted by international consultants MMR based in UK and Atkin based in Turkey.

The design consultants of 55-years-old Guddu Barrage identified that the main barrage gates and those of the head regulators remain in poor condition. A contract was awarded for replacement of the gates while at present the river training works are going on at the Guddu Barrage site.

Similarly, the feasibility study of the 90-year-old Sukkur Barrage shows increased accumulation of silt in the left and right ponds, due to which the right side canals of the Sukkur barrage cannot receive their proper share of water. Furthermore, it was observed that the six main gates of the Sukkur Barrage like 31, 33, 34, 36, 39 and 40 are also lying damaged impeding water flow. The barrage supplies water to about 80% of agriculture land of Sindh.

The contract for replacement of the six gates of the Sukkur Barrage was awarded to the Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works on an emergency basis. The Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works had also installed the gates of the Guddu Barrage in 1962 during construction.

The gates are 21 feet high and weigh around 40 tonnes. While replacing them with new gates, their height has been increased to 23 feet and they would weigh around 50 tonnes.