The Tibetan Plateau contains the world’s third-largest store of ice. Qin Dahe, the former head of the China Meteorological Administration, said that the recent fast pace of melting and warmer temperatures will be good for agriculture and tourism in the short term; but issued a strong warning:
“Temperatures are rising four times faster than elsewhere in China, and the Tibetan glaciers are retreating at a higher speed than in any other part of the world.... In the short term, this will cause lakes to expand and bring floods and mudflows. . . . In the long run, the glaciers are vital lifelines of the Indus River. Once they vanish, water supplies in Pakistan will be in peril.” [1]
According to the experts the behavior of Indus was predicted and many warnings were issued regarding the increased flow of water in Indus because of the climatic changes affecting the planet. “There is insufficient data to say what will happen to the Indus,” says David Grey, the World Bank’s senior water advisor in South Asia. “But we all have very nasty fears that the flows of the Indus could be severely, severely affected by glacier melt as a consequence of climate change,” he says. “we need to be concerned about that. Deeply, deeply concerned.” [2]
The question today is was there anyone in government deeply concerned?"
The unprecedented flood in River Indus caused devastation in many districts of South Punjab. Although unusually heavy monsoons were predicted by the Met department of Pakistan and flood warnings issued but even then the question remains, was the swollen Indus the sole reason the floods in South Punjab?
This year the flood raged into towns and villages which had never experienced even minor flood in the entire history of their existence. These floods were caused by the canal bursts and the giving way of protection bunds all along the course of the Indus river form district Mianwali to Layyah, Muzaffargarh, DG Khan, and Rajanpur.
The breaches in canals were caused by the massive volume of water which flowed in, as well as by the punctures made into them by the Irrigation Department Punjab at various breaching sections in order to divert the water.
The result was the massive flood waters diverted towards towns and villages totally unaware of the impending danger. In places like Mehmood kot, Kot Addu, Sanawan and Daira Din Panah, AES Lal Pir, Mithan Kot and many other places people were caught unawares. The flood was a stranger to them and they were clueless of any measures to save themselves. The result is the high number of deaths by drowning, billions of dollars worth of property, cattle, infrastructure and crops destroyed and hundreds of villages completely washed away under as high as fifteen feet of water.
What really happened? How well was the government of Punjab aware of the impending danger? How well were they prepared? Who gave the orders of the canal breaches? Were they done on time? Who gave the final order? Was the Jinnah Barrage at risk at all? Why was the pressure of Indus River not released even after breaking the protective bunds and diverting water into Mianwali? Was breaking the bunds actually the last resort? Why Left Guide Bund at Taunsa gave way? Was it the design fault as pointed out by many critics of the project? Who is to be held responsible?
And then there are many administrative questions also like should there been water flowing in canals in monsoon season? Were they drained properly before the commencement of the Monsoons? Was early warning issued to the people in time? Who was coordination with the district administration? What early warning systems were in place? What evacuation plan were there in place? Why did Punjab government not have an evacuation plan when there was the warning of floods months ahead of time? What role did the local influential landowners with vested interests played in the bund breaches? What was the condition of the barrages, protective bunds and the canal walls? And the million dollar question is who is ultimately responsible for the loss of human life and millions of dollars worth of property?
Was Mighty Indus carried away to far off towns through a series of bad decisions? Was it an engineering induced flood, remains to be seen?
The flood in "Sher Darya" was carried by the link canals to places which were far away from its natural course. Eye witnesses account that the water entering Mehmood Kot in District Muzaffargarh was like a ten foot high solid wall advancing like a high speed train when it entered the town and overtook everything within a few minutes. "We were able to save nothing
said Khalid a resident of Mehmood kot near Kot Addu, `we are just lucky to be alive’. This flood was caused by the breaching of the Muzaffargarh Canal two km from Muzaffargarh. Other than Mehmood Kot, towns of Sanawan, Ghazi Ghat, Lal Pir, and dozens of other villages were swept by the flood waters.
According to the irrigation department Punjab the Indus River was flowing at a frightening level when it entered Punjab. The consistent rains on the Suleman Ranges derived heavy flow of hill torrents that include 37,000 cusecs in Sanghar hill torrent, 27,780 cusecs in Vehova hill torrent, 24,767 cusecs in Vidore hill torrent, 29,270 cusecs in Sorrilund hill torrent, 33,800 cusecs in Kaura hill torrent that were becoming part of the Indus river after damages in the plain and sub-hilly areas.
Rojhan, Kot Mithan, Jampur in district Rajanpur was devastated by hill torrents. In Dera Ghazi Khan, torrents from Wadoor inundated roads. The high flood breached the Kachhi canal bank and broke the siphon on the DG canal. The irrigation Department made punctures on the Katchi Canal crossing into DG canal in order to divert water from DG Khan town. Punctures were also made at zero Head Relief Canal near Choti hill, DG Khan.
On Monday 2nd August because of the intense pressure from the massive flow and pressure of the river the left Marginal Bund of Taunsa Barrage collapsed at RD 30-32 and the tremendous body of water made its way inland finding its way into TP link canal. The taunsa- Punjnad canal has the capacity of 1500 cusecs but it experienced the surge of more than 3000 cusecs of water and it breached at various points. TP canal was punctured by irrigation department at various other points. The water from TP canal was drained into Muzaffargarh canal which has the maximum capacity of 8,900 cusecs yet it experienced the surge of 2000 cusecs. The canal could not sustain the pressure of water surge and breached at many points.
The bursting of bands, TP and Muzaffargarh canal completely inundated kot Kot Addu, Daira Din Panah, Mehmoood kot, Jhoke Utra, Ghousabad, Shero, Basti Pattal and Qasba Gujrat where the water rose up to fifteen feet and more at places. More than five hundred thousand people were affected. According to eye witnesses only the tops of the trees are visible at some places. The rest of Kot Addu has transformed into a huge lake.
The flood damaged railway track at various locations on Multan-Kot Addu junction, Kot Addu-Dera Ghazi Khan-Kashmore section as well as on Kot Addu-Bhakkar-Mianwali section, suspending the railway traffic.
In addition to the breaches and bursts, Punjab irrigation department punctured the TP Canal at various places including Head Muhammad Wala and tried to divert the water to Chenab River. The irrigation department states that the punctures were made in order to save KAPCO Power plant as well as PARCO. Punctures were made in Rangpur Canal also. Another Puncture was made in the breach section of Muzaffargarh Canal in order to divert its water to Chenab River. The Irrigation Department officials admit that the breaches were not able to successfully divert flood water in Chenab River and it further inundated Kot Addu and surrounding area. Punctures were also made in Talhiri distributary at Ganeshwala in Muzaffargarh, two kilometers from Muzaffargarh town. In various places the breaches instead of diverting water surged further in the towns and villages.
In Mianwali Relief cut was made in the breach section of Right Guide Band in order to release pressure at the Jinnah Barrage built at Indus River resulting in the flooding of towns and villages.
There is a need of a full scale inquiry into the flooding of Indus and the real reasons of the unnatural course that the river took must be brought out in the public. Indus is one of the mightiest rivers of the world and is amongst the few rivers in the world which have tidal bore. This greatest natural resource has tremendous power and it cannot be treated with disrespect. It needs the utmost seriousness, professionalism and expertise to handle the mighty Indus especially at the time when it is at its mightiest.
Today there are over twenty million people affected by floods, hungry and sick, without even a few drops of water to drink. They have lost lives, livelihoods and homes.
Who was on the watch? Anyone?
Noreen Haider