Flood fate of thousands lies with colonial-era Pakistan barrage

Sukkur, Pakistan (AFP):

The fate of hundreds of thousands of people in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province lies with a 90-year-old barrage that directs the flow of water from the mighty Indus River into one of the world’s largest irrigation systems.

The government has declared an emergency to deal with floods caused by record monsoon rains that have affected nearly 33 million people — many whose livelihoods depend on the Indus.

But just as the river provides during times of plenty, it can also take away.

Sindh has been pounded by weeks of torrential rain that have flooded farmlands across the province, but now torrents from swollen tributaries in the mountainous north are coursing down the Indus, due to arrive in coming days.

The river rises in Tibet and bisects Pakistan as it meanders more than 3,000 kilometres (2,000 miles) south to the Arabian Sea near Karachi.

Water from the Indus is already lapping over its banks in several places, and unless the Sukkur Barrage can control the flow, catastrophe will result.

Originally known as Lloyd Barrage, it was considered an engineering marvel when completed in 1932, capable of discharging 1.4 million cubic metres of water per second through 19 steel gates hinged between stone pillars.

It is the centrepiece of the city, a favourite site for tourists to photograph, and also provides a key bridge across the river.

“It has completed 90 years, whereas it had a 50-year guarantee,” Syed Khursheed Shah, Pakistan’s Minister for Water Resources, told AFP. “So we are 40 years beyond its guaranteed life.”