UNENDING encroachments and the growth of residential schemes along the dykes of the Indus river have become a menace, particularly in Sindh`s big cities.

In some places, entire sections of bunds have vanished. In Latifabad, some schemes are located even near the main dykes. Irrigation authorities say the situation is making flood-fighting difficult, as the erosion of banks owing to seepage of floodwaters cannot be checked.

Officials of the provincial irrigation department and the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA) say they have taken up the issue withrelevant authorities, including commissioners of various divisions. But the ground situation is that residential schemes by private builders continue to crop up, as they can still get permissions and no-objection certificates (NoCs) from civic bodies and utility providers.

SIDA`s revenue manager, Aftab Memon, said an exercise was conducted in 2015 to identify encroachments and residential schemes on lands falling in the territory controlled by the authority. A list was then sent to divisional commissioners, but no action was taken, he says.

Mohammad Saleem Rajput, outgoing deputy commissioner of Hyderabad, recently attempted to give a wake-up call to the authorities concerned. In a letter dated Dec 13, 2017, he told the regional director of the Sindh Building Control Authority and the director planning and development control ofthe Hyderabad Development Authority (HDA) that no construction can be allowed in areas located between the front dyke and the protective bund under the irrigation department`s policy.

He asked the departments not to approve any layout plan or issue an NoC, and immediately cancel those that have already been issued.

He also wrote to the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company, regional manager of the Sui Southern Gas Company and managing director of the Water and Sanitation Agency that they shall not provide utility connections for such schemes.

In his Feb 6 reply to the letter, HDA`s directorplanning and development control held the irrigation department responsible, saying that its officials themselves gave permissions for such schemes decades ago.

He mentioned that deh Jamshoro and deh Sari (Qasimabad) are located inside the riverine (or katcha) area and protective bunds, while deh Malh and deh Gidu (Latifabad) fall in the area between the front dyke and loop bund. They are parts of areas controlled by the HDA. (A deh is the smallest revenue unit for land in Sindh, similar to `mauza` in the rest of the country.) The HDA didn`t approve housing schemes in such areas until 1985. But considering the past flood record, Kotri barrage`s then chief engineer issued NoCs that year for surveys to use land for residential purposes, the reply said.

Even on June 20, 2012 (after the devastatingfloods of 2010), Phulelli canal`s executive engineer gave permission for a housing scheme in deh Sari, the HDA official says in his letter.

The irrigation department has built loop bunds across the province to fortify the front bund of Indus river so that the bunds contain floodwater in case of a breach in the front embankment.

Idris Rajput, a former secretary of the Sindh irrigation department, says a loop bund is created in all those areas where the main current of a river flows at a distance of 3,000 feet from the main dyke.

`Area between front and loop bunds is called compartment. It is to be filled with water for soaking of the loop bund. Soaking strengthens a dyke; therefore, no construction can be allowed in a compartment. If it is a surveyed property, the landowner can be allowed to cultivate winter crops alone after the flood season ends,` he says. However, the authorities have now turned a blind eye to what happens on and around these bunds, he adds.

A visit to these sites reveals that in addition to encroachments, illegal settlements and structures on the main Jamshoro front bund, full-fledged residential schemes are being launched in Latifabad area between main and loop bunds.

The Flood Inquiry Commission of 2010 set up on the orders of the Supreme Court after floods wreaked havoc in one-fourth area of the country that year found that `local and provincial governments have themselves indulged in encouraging illegal acts and promoted encroachments`.

The commission said in its report that the construction of roads and gas pipelines were allowed to pass through bunds in contravention of legal provisions, contributing to obstructions in the flow of water and thus flooding many areas.

It recommended that `governments must correct that and ensure no encroachments are permitted and no acquired lands are sold or leased out. Actions should be initiated by governments to remove all encroachments with a firm hand`. •