Environmental Impacts of Out Fall Drains on Soil of Badin Area,
 Sindh, Pakistan

Shafique A. Junejo¹ and M. Tahir Shah²

¹ Department of Geography, University of Sindh, Jamshoro, Pakistan
e-mail: junejoshafi@gmail.com

² NCE in Geology, University of Peshawar, Pakistan

Abstract

A mega project, Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), was designed to drain saline and surface water, storm runoff, and municipal wastewater from three districts (i.e., Nawabshah, Sanghar, and Mirpur Khas) of Sindh province. The Project intended to improve irrigation and drainage conditions for an area of about 516,500 hectares in the southeastern Sindh. It comprises 2.5 million hectares catchments of the left bank of Indus river. Spinal drain is its central feature, which connects the drainage network to the sea through a Tidal Link. The Spinal drain collects surplus drainage and distributes it through a weir to other two branch drains, the Kadhan Pateji Outfall Drain (KPOD) and the Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain (DPOD). DPOD drains the effluents in lake Shakoor, while the KPOD drains into the sea through 26 miles long canal.  The heavy rains and high tides cause backflow in the LBOD, which causes environmental effects on the cropping land and drinking water in the area.  Representative soil samples of the area were analyzed for heavy and trace metals and the results were compared with international standards. The data indicate that the concentration of, Zn (upto 543 ppm), Ni (upto 64 ppm), Cr (upto 69 ppm) and Co (upto 49 ppm) in the soils of Badin area is exceeding the limits as proposed for the environmentally safe agricultural soils. However, Cu and Pb are in the permissible limits.  It is, therefore, recommended that the appropriate measures should be taken for the proper management of the LBOD, and environmental rehabilitation of soils in the lower Sindh, Pakistan.