Larkana/Dadu: Due to the lengthy procedures and negligence of authorities concerned, the construction cost of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD-II) has increased many times as now it has now reached at Rs60 billion against the initial expenditure of Rs8 to 10 billion, it is learnt.
Sources said the RBOB is a major drainage project being carried on the right bank of River Indus to provide drainage facilities to save 4.30 million acres of land from water logging and salinity hazards.
The work on RBOD-I Stage I project is being carried out at snail’s pace by Wapda.
The provincial irrigation department is carrying out the RBOD-II Stage-I &II, while the RBOD-III project is being executed by Wapda to provide facilities to Balochistan.
The effluent from RBOD-III and RBOD-I will be carried to sea through the RBOD-II to save Manchar Lake from pollution water/saline water and to carry flood water and surface runoff upper catchment areas to the sea.
The saline water and other floodwater may cause damage to Manchar Lake and Right Bank areas. Therefore, it is essential to complete the RBOD-II in all respects before completion of the RBOD-I and RBOD-III projects.
The sources said that the federal authorities were reluctant to ensure smooth funding to these projects as so far only paper work is done in this connection.
“The construction of drain on right bank of River Indus aims to carry drainage effluent from RBOD-I and RBOD-II for disposal in Arabian Sea in environmentally safe manner without polluting Manchar Lake, River Indus, cultivable lands and water supplies for domestic purpose”, official documents revealed.
Work on the RBOD-I project was started during 1970s to provide drainage cover to right bank of River Indus, mainly for Dadu, Larkana and Kamber Shahdadkot districts.
To eradicate the problem, Indus Link was constructed to dispose of the effluent into River Indus, which was confronted by Sindh government as contamination of the river was envisaged as its after-effect. The River Indus provides domestic water supplies to Hyderabad and Karachi besides agricultural lands.
