A major breach in the Sial Minor canal on Monday has created a devastating flood situation, submerging hundreds of acres of agricultural land and houses near Humayun village and forcing villagers to undertake emergency repair work on a self-help basis.
The 20-foot-wide breach in the waterway inundated a vast area of land, destroying standing crops and causing severe financial losses to the farming community. The floodwater also entered the residential area, inundating several homes.
According to area residents Mushtaq Mallah, Munir Bhagat, Abid Sial, and others, this disaster could have been averted. They stated that the department had been timely informed about water leakage from the canal, but the failure to address the issue resulted in the canal breaching.
When the officers and staff of the Irrigation Department did not arrive on the scene to control the crisis, residents, including Naushad Nangraj and Shiraz Channa, started work on a self-help basis. The community worked together to fill the breach in the canal to stop the flood.
The villagers say that the canal’s breach is a direct result of long-term negligence. They stated that the Sial Minor canal had not been desilted for the past two years, due to which its embankments weakened and the breach occurred.