Sensors installation to monitor water flow in distributaries, canals.

HYDERABAD -- Monitoring unfair distribution of the irrigation water to farmers some local public and private organizations have introduced a new technology called sensors to measure and monitor the water flow at the barrages, canals, distributaries and watercourses. It is for the first time that the sensors are being installed at head, middle and tail of the Mir minor, Daulatpur, Saangro and Belharo minors and distributaries of the Nara Canal system under the supervision of a designated Farmers Organization (FOs). These devices will be used to monitor and measure the depth and flow rate in collaboration with farmer organizations, said Prof Dr Abdul Latif Qureshi, sectional head Hydraulics, Irrigation and Drainage at US-Pak Center for Advanced Studies in Water (USPCAS-W) Mehran University of Engineering and Technology (MUET) Jamshoro while discussing with farmers. These sensors are being installed with the joint collaboration of MUET, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA), Nara Canal Area Water Board and Research Development Foundation (RDF) with the technical support of , Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS) and The University of Utah. He informed that the first sensor was installed at Jamrao West Branch at 30th mile with the technical support from Lahore University of Management Sciences (LUMS), Lahore. Prof Qureshi while discussing the technology at Mir minor in Mirpurkhas district sensitised the farmers about the sensor. He said that it can be linked to the irrigation tax collection mechanism on the basis of this system to see how much water is being used by the farmers. There is negligible maintenance cost for this device, he added. He called upon the growers...