YUSAF BAGH: A day after the water level in Sindh’s Manchhar Lake rose to a “dangerous level”, a cut was made in the water body’s dyke on Sunday to release pressure.

Irrigation Special Secretary Jamal Mangan said that the cut was located at RD-14 Yusuf Bagh, describing the move as a “relief cut”.Y

A gauge shows the water level, following rains and floods during the monsoon season in Manchar Lake, Bhan Saeedabad on September 3, 2022.— Reuters/Yasir Rajput
The water that will be released from the lake at RD-14 will eventually reach River Indus, which is already in high flood, the peak of which has passed through Sukkur Barrage. Irrigation officials now hope that the river will start accepting water from the lake.

Officials decided to make the cut due to the critical condition of the lake’s dyke since last evening.

“There is strong wave-wash action triggered by strong winds,” said Superintending Engineer Mukhtar Abro.

Meanwhile, a fisherman Hyder said that the cut at RA-14 was “small in size”, saying the water would enter the river once the flow recedes. He said the cut was given near Arzi Goth and it would reach somewhere near Sehwan.

“It was a difficult decision [but] it had to be taken,” he said. The minister said that approximately 125,000 people in five union councils would be affected by the water released through this cut.

He said the government had taken steps to ensure citizens were evacuated to safer places. He also disclosed that Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had reached Sehwan as well.

Speaking to journalists in Sehwan, CM Shah said the controlled cut was made to divert water from Sehwan and to ease pressure on the lake. “Even my house in Bajara has been inundated after floods entered my village earlier where my father was born and now my second village will be inundated by water flowing in the wake of this controlled cut,” he added.