Police contingents reach Ali Wahan for anti-encroachment drive on banks of Indus

SUKKUR: Contingents of police and officials of Sindh irrigation department reached Ali Wahan with heavy machinery on Saturday morning to remove illegal encroachments from the banks of Indus river, ARY News reported.

The civic agencies have stepped up an anti-encroachment drive to clean the banks of the river and its canals from illegal structures.

In view of possible resistance against the anti-encroachment drive police have deployed armoured carriers to counter any hurdle in the work of the government agencies.

Local administration has announced that all illegal structures built along the river from the Zero Point to Rohri will be demolished in the operation.

The police had on Wednesday detained around 100 people resisting an anti-encroachment operation to remove illegal structures on the embankments of canals of Sukkur barrage.

SSP Irfan Samoo, who was leading the operation, said that the drive was initiated on the court orders.

As the civic agencies launched the operation to remove encroachments on all seven off-taking canals of the barrage on the day angry mobs comprised of hundreds of people emerged to roads to resist the government drive.

A large number of people have built houses and shops on the embankments of the canals of the Sukkur Barrage. These illegal localities have grown into big colonies with all civic facilities.

Criminal negligence on part of the authorities allowed people to encroach on the land on the embankments of all seven off-taking canals of Sukkur Barrage.

According to reports, influential people have also occupied the river bed near Rohri and in front of gate numbers six to 14 of the barrage.

Sukkur Barrage has seven off-taking canals, out of which three – Dadu Canal, Rice Canal and North Western Canal (Kirthar) – are situated on right bank, and four – Khairpur Feeder West, Rohri Canal, Khairpur Feeder East and Nara Canal – are at the left bank.