Saving freshwater via re-lining

The re-lining of Akram Wah, a left bank perennial canal of Kotri Barrage, turned out to be the final option to address water shortages in farmland falling in the canal’s command area, especially in the tail-end reaches, saving freshwater due to seepage losses and above all enabling the call to carry its designed discharge, which it never carried since its construction in the 1950s.

The work is ongoing under the Sindh Water and Agriculture Transformation (SWAT) project of the World Bank and will be executed at a cost of $320m. SWAT covers both the agriculture and water sectors as separate components as per project design. The procurement process will begin by next month, but lining of the canal will begin after the passage of the upcoming kharif season. Since water demand in the agriculture sector increases during the summer cropping season, lining works could not be undertaken.

The decision to re-line the canal was taken after the submission of the latest report by the Project Implementation Consultants (PICs) — the National Engineering Services Pakistan (NESPAK) and Associated Consulting Engineers (ACE) in SWAT. The present work relating to the Akram Wah rehabilitation now involves a cost of Rs21 billion, according to the SWAT (water component) project director (PD), Jamal Mangan.

The PICs reviewed a previous feasibility report of Akram Wah’s rehabilitation works, prepared under the Water Sector Improvement Project (WSIP). WSIP was executed by the Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (Sida). “After going through the WSIP’s feasibility report, the PICs have come up with findings that re-lining of Akram Wah should be kept intact between RD (reduced distance)-0 to RD-193 to save the canal’s freshwater being lost through seepage in soil,” said https://i.dawn.com/primary/2024/01/65a381f022a58.jpgMr Mangan.

‘The Akram Wah canal faces serious water shortages often and we are not able to supply irrigation water to our farmers when it is needed’

‘The Akram Wah canal faces serious water shortages often and we are not able to supply irrigation water to our farmers when it is needed’

He said that recent groundwater investigations by the PICs, on the recommendation of the World Bank, showed that canal water, a precious commodity, was being lost through seepage in the bed, only to mix with brackish groundwater around Akram Wah.

In the WSIP’s feasibility report, the PD explained, “The lining was not preferred in the reaches falling between RD-0 to RD-193 although the canal would continue to have earthen bed from RD-193 to RD-382 as per latest report which said that water losses in these reaches remained minimal due to nature of soil which is mostly clay when compared with sandy soil between RD-0 to RD-193.”

Administratively, it was Sida that controlled the Akram Wah and New Phulelli canals of the barrage, while the rest of the two canals, including Kalri Baghar Feeder and Old Phulelli/Pinyari, were under the Sindh irrigation department.

Sida was created to ensure a participatory irrigation system, but a dual irrigation system continued to exist in Sindh through Sida and the irrigation department. A new law was being drafted to merge the 1879 Sindh Irrigation Act and the Sindh Water Management Ordinance 2002. The new legal instrument would disband Sida and rename the irrigation department the Sindh Water Resource Management Department after the law’s passage in the Sindh Assembly.

The Akram Wah Canal has a designed discharge of 3,714 cusecs, though it can carry 4,100 cusecs in the Kharif season and 1,900 cusecs in the Rabi season. The canal has a total number of 382 RDs. Of them, around 193 RDs would be lined in the project.

According to General Manager (operations) Sida, Sajjad Soomro, the existing lining of Akram Wah showed clear signs of structural distress, including cracking of concrete slabs, panel displacement, and erosion of the canal bed and side slopes. These problems increase the risk of further deterioration and require frequent maintenance interventions. “Given the age of the canal lining and its present condition, simple repairs are no longer sufficient to address the underlying issues,” Mr Mangan noted.

The Akram Wah was the only canal in Pakistan that was lined. The 481-mile-long canal feeds areas in the Tando Mohammad Khan and Badin districts. It also caters to the drinking water needs of Hyderabad city, which have also increased with each passing day due to population growth and industrial consumption.

In the last 10 years, major canals were lined in Sindh, along with several branches and distributaries of the provincial irrigation network. Among the main canals, the reaches of Sukkur Barrage’s main Rohri canal were lined, and lately the barrage’s Nara canal was lined at its head at Sukkur Barrage.

Since the canal never carried its designed discharge, farmers with agricultural land in the canal’s command area always face water shortages, especially in the tail-end reaches. During the shortage period, the canal was supplemented by Sida via the New Phulelli canal, regulated by the Alipur regulator, to meet its water needs. The non-perennial New Phulelli canal was supplied with drinking water during the Rabi season by the Kotri barrage authorities.

Unauthorised lifting of irrigation water, in addition to multiple direct outlets (DOs), was also reported at the Akram Wah canal. A DO at any canal is a source of irrigation water that gets water directly from the main canal; otherwise, such canals supply their downstream branches, distributaries, and minors through several regulators installed under the irrigation system.

“The canal does face serious water shortages often, and we are not able to supply irrigation water to our farmers when it is needed,” said Sain Bux Jamali, the chairman of Left Bank Canals Area Water Board. “Initially, we were told that the canal’s section would be enhanced, but now we are told that the canal’s bed will be re-lined to save precious freshwater, and this saving will also help overcome the shortage in the canal’s command,” Mr Jamali said.

Project officials, like PD, pointed out that around 270 cusecs of freshwater would be saved along the canal’s stretch from RD-0 at the canal’s head to RD-193, out of the canal’s total RDs. A provision for drainage was also included in the relining of the canal to control water pressure uplift, which wasn’t part of the earlier scheme when it was executed in the 50s.

Published in Dawn, The Business and Finance Weekly, March 23rd, 2026

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