Indus Basin Canal Irrigation System is incompatible, wasteful and obsolete

 The Obsolete system needs modernization to save wastage of 50 maf of water and avoid famine

The problems and solutions of irrigated agriculture and flood control measures

The Indus Basin Canal Irrigation System suffers from all sorts of technical problems. It has undergone revolutionary transformation from its original concept, original canal design with fixed and constant discharge, and originally assumed Kharif Rabi ratio, cropping pattern and cropping intensity, for irrigated agriculture. The system has become incompatible to meet the present day fluctuating water needs of changed cropping pattern and higher cropping intensities at proper time in proper dozes.

Agricultural practices and land use for cash crop have undergone tremendous changes than as originally conceived in the canal design and the originally assumed agricultural data 150 years ago. The irrigation system has become obsolete as it wastes 50 maf of water (8 times the storage of Basha), and has become incompatible to meet crop water needs as and when required. Moreover, it is not possible to maintain the original canal design criteria of regime flow conditions, as well as stick to the originally assumed Kharif Rabi ratio and their cropping pattern and cropping intensity. The 150 years old canal irrigation system needs modernization.

The network of canal irrigation system in the Indus basin has the capacity to carry 105 maf of water. The 150 years old canal system is inefficient, wasteful, incompatible and obsolete. It wastes about 50% of 105 maf of water. The wastage is due to seepage and the system operation wastage due to incompatibility of canal discharge and crop water requirements.

Another waste flow is due to floods, that goes waste to sea after damaging irrigated agriculture.  There are no dams on the Indus to control floods though dams are the components of irrigated agriculture. Tarbela Dam is silted up by 5.0 maf. This year waste floodwater flow to sea is estimated to be 40 maf (equal to 7 times the storage of Basha Dam). If dams were built it would have turned furious floods into normal one. I can quote the example of flood control dam and its reservoir on Gomal Zam recently built that has saved the Town of Kulachi and many villages around, though these vast areas used to be seriously damaged during floods from Gomal River which is notorious for flood havoc.

The colossal wastage from the obsolete canal system direly needs Integrated Comprehensive Water Management to modernize the wasteful and incompatible canal system.

Indus is the only river in Pakistan that has a few mega dam sites to create storage. There are no dam sites on Kabul River, Chinab River and Jehlum River. We must therefore build Katzarah Dam on the Indus that has 1000 years of lifespan and other unique qualities.

Moreover, rapid silting of reservoir on the Indus and its short lifespan is another serious problem. Dams at proper sites serve as watershed management infrastructure besides their other benefits. The Indus River is the main source of water for Pakistan. We must carefully develop it for perpetual storage to sustain irrigated agriculture.

Fortunately, a unique dam site, that meets all requirements, is available on the Indus at Katzarah about 20 miles downstream of Skardu town. Dam is a vital component of water management. Katzarah Dam would prevent super floods, stores 35 maf of water for irrigation, generate 15000 MW of power and prevent silt flow from the highly erodible soil of Skardu valley. Katzarah Dam on the Indus, Guroh Dop Dam on Panjkore river, and Kalam Dam on Swat Rivers must be built to control super floods in future destroying the nation. There are predictions for more flooding and for freak events.

Moreover, salinity, sodicity and water logging have affected about 60% of irrigated land in the Indus basin to various degrees. In spite of this, there is no sub-surface tile drainage system to evacuate and control harmful salinity out of the area. The accumulated groundwater drainage effluent is pumped by about one million small tube wells indiscriminately injecting 250 million tons of injurious salts in to the soil each year that destroys fertile land gradually and invisibly. It is surprising that drainage of land to evacuate and control salinity is ignored.

The dire need is to set right the problems of irrigated agriculture by implementing all the components of Integrated Comprehensive Water Management (ICWM) and control super floods to produce food for the rapidly growing population. Flood control is a vital part of ICWM and of irrigation. Therefore, dams as proposed must be built by the earliest.

I have written separate papers in my Blog on the serious problems of land, water, floods, salinity, drainage, water management, dams, and irrigated agriculture with solutions. I feel there is need to create Indus Valley Authority to set right the following problems:-

* To modernize the wasteful, inefficient, incompatible and obsolete canal irrigation system, by Integrated Comprehensive Water Management

* To control super floods and avoid unimaginable losses by building flood control dams that are Katzarah, Guroh Dop, and Kalam, and NOT Akhori, Munda, and Kalabagh

* To control rapid silting of reservoirs by building Katzarah Dam that acts as watershed management infrastructure to stop silt from the highly erodible soil of Skardu valley. Tarbela has lost 5 maf of storage capacity by silting in 36 years.

* To control and eradicate salinity of land and water logging from the Indus basin canal irrigation system by providing the missing sub-surface tile drainage system a vital component of irrigation.

* To carryout watershed management in the catchment area to reduce silt flow and avoid rapid silting of reservoirs. The life of Basha Dam is estimated to be 80 years, if Katzarah is built its life would increase to 800 years. Tarbela Dam life would increase by 60 years.

* To select dam site to have the best capacity-inflow ratio for long life and excellent service value. Katzarah is the dam that has 1000 years lifespan.

* To change the traditional Warabandi system of water supply to crops that is on area and time basis. Water to crops be supplied on the basis of crop consumptive use.

* To start experiment to introduce Sprinkler and Drip irrigation system to save water

* To replace watercourses by pipe supply to avoid seepage losses, evaporation losses and theft

In my blog, I have suggested flood control measures and identified land and water problems for irrigated agricultural development. It is a sort of mini Master Plan in very concise form. It is based on my 55 years of hard experience. Even otherwise, I have natural aptitude for the profession (Water Resources Engineering).

About me

Besides my profession, I have great interest in knowing science facts and its similarity with 1500 to 2000 allegorical science related verses of the Holy Quran. I have written two books on the similarity of established science with the Holy Quran. My last book is “God created the Universe with the purpose to serve Humankind”. The essence of the book is;

“I have grasped the sense of 1500 to 2000 science-related verses of the Holy Quran mostly in allegory. I found that science facts and laws agree with Quran that describes the creation of physical universe with Big Bang from absolutely nothing in quarks form as seven universes (multiverse) in one piece. God then parted earth along with the lowest universe and all life created in earth of water. The Quran further reveals the expansion, collapse (Big Crunch), and the re-creation of the universe with Big Bang. It further reveals the creation of man, his death, and resurrection for eschatology in the Hereafter. Quran reveals man will be in transfigured form (Spiritual) in the metaphysical world. Quran reveals in allegory that the universe is full of black holes and its Event Horizons to bring gravitational collapse of the universe.

Quran reveals; God’s purpose in the creation of the Physical universe the way it is to create humankind on earth to worship Him and behave in earth. God created man in physical and metaphysical combinations. The purpose is to create thinking human being with metaphysical Conscience and Spirit in earth specially designed as living planet to know God through His infinite creations and know the ultimate reality. Life is common to all living creatures but not the Sprit, Conscience and power of speech as in man. Quran indicates, human being is alone in the universe but it reveals that life elsewhere in the universe exists. There is no extraterrestrial life more intelligent than humankind. These facts show that the Creator God exists and that Quran is the WORD of Creator God. God created the universe with the purpose to serve Humankind”.