The non-fenced water canal of the Upper Sindh Hydropower Project (USHP) stage I in tehsil Gund of Ganderbal district is posing a grave threat to the lives of thousands of people and property here.
According to locals, the water canal feeding the USHP stage II Sumbal passes through several areas from Kullan to Ganiwan without any fencing or protection wall, putting the entire population in these areas to threat.
There have been several incidents where locals lost their lives and other property including livestock, locals said.
Locals said that several times the canal breached resulting in a flood-like situation in which several residential houses were damaged besides hundreds of kanal of cultivated land turned barren.
They accused the Power Development Corporation (PDC) of playing with the lives of the people by not fencing and covering the power canal despite witnessing several tragic events in the past.
“In March 2013, the same canal was breached due to a landslide resulting in damage to several houses besides the loss to the agricultural land. This was the eighth incident of its kind in the area. Many human lives have been lost in the past due to the non-seriousness of the concerned department,” locals said.
They said that if the concerned department had listened to the pleas of the people and fenced the canal, the loss could have been minimised.
“We are living in constant danger since the canal came up. The area has witnessed only losses during these incidents,” said Muhammad Ayoub, a local. “We are having sleepless nights whenever there is rainfall. The canal is prone to landslides and can lead to its blockade, resulting in a breach.”
Locals said that the canal was constructed in 1975 with the assurance that the areas where from the canal passes would be provided electricity from the Sumbal powerhouse.
They said that for a few years, they were provided electricity but the electric supply was snapped in 1995.