World Bank-Funded Sindh Barrages Project Faces $72 Million Financing Gap

The “Sindh Barrages Improvement Project” worth $326.6 million is facing a financing gap of about $72 million and will require either government of Sindh counterpart funding or additional IDA funding to meet contractual obligations in the medium term.

Official documents of the World Bank revealed that due to accumulated delays, completing the works at Guddu and Sukkur will require more time beyond the current project closing date of June 30, 2024.

The project was approved in 2015 with development objectives to improve the reliability and safety of the Guddu barrage and strengthen the Sindh Irrigation Department’s capacity to operate and manage the barrage. The original closing date was 22 December 2020, which was later revised to June 30, 2024.

The bank has rated the progress towards achievement of project development objective and overall implementation progress as moderately satisfactory.

The project has made substantial progress. Works at Guddu are progressing and have reached 48 percent physical progress for the barrage and substantial completion for the river training works. The remaining river training works at Right TJ Spur are yet to be launched.

The rehabilitation of the Sukkur barrage started in February 2023 and shows steady progress and is currently at 4.5 percent physical progress. Moreover, the project has a financing gap of about $72 million and will require either GoS counterpart funding or additional IDA funding to meet contractual obligations in the medium term.

The Government of Sindh has processed a Planning Commission form 1 (PC-1) amalgamating the previous two separate PC-1s, one for Guddu and one for Sukkur, and reflecting the new financing requirement and extended timeframe.

On the institutional side, the Government of Sindh has established a Barrage Management Unit (BMU) headed by a chief engineer to oversee the operation and maintenance of the three barrages in Sindh (Guddu, Sukkur, and Kotri). The capacity of BMU will be strengthened under the project’s component B supporting Improved Barrage Operation, the bank noted.

Documents noted that six gate leaves have been replaced but their hoisting systems have not been replaced yet. Both gate and hoisting systems are to be replaced to count for additional flood passage capacity.