ISLAMABAD: The World Bank’s International Development Association has approved $188 million fund for Guddu Barrage to enhance its life by another 50 years and to help strengthen Sindh Irrigation Department’s capacity to operate and manage barrages.
The 60 per cent of some 65 hugely rusted steel gates of Guddu Barrage has been eroded and creating operational difficulties. Besides, lifting mechanism of these gates is being constantly corroded which may make these gates inoperative, particularly during floods when these are more often opened and closed. This would eventually restrict water supply to irrigated areas, observed World Bank experts. They advise structural and operational interventions to manage flows to off-taking canals.
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Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri, the three largest barrages built between 1932 and 1962, are managed by the provincial irrigation department. The oldest of the three, Sukkur Barrage irrigates around 3m hectares of farmland and keeps enforcing safety measures and renovation on and off. Rehabilitation work on Kotri Barge was carried out in 2000.
