21 I COTTER: SODA INDUSTRY OF SIND. 



Indus above Rohri found its way to the desert Upon Sir 



Bartle Frere's advice a survey of the valley was undertaken in 1852 

 and it was discovered that more spill water escaped from the Indus 

 60 the Eastern Nara than had previously been believed, bul that 

 owing to the sandy nature of the valley and especially to numerous 

 immense hollows in the desert, the water, except when a very large 

 flood occurred, was entirely absorbed. Dams were immediately 

 constructed which diverted the stream from the sandy hollows 

 in which it was absorbed to the alluvial plain extending south of 

 Mithrao." 



In May 1859, a cutting was made at Rohri from the hidus to 

 the Nara. In 1885 a head regulator was constructed at Rohri. 

 Improvements continued to be made every year, and finally in 

 1899 the Jamrao Canal was completed and opened. This takes 

 a large portion of the water of the Nara, and distributes it to the 

 west of Thar and Parkar and part of Hyderabad. 



To prevent flooding of the desert, the Nara has, in the Sanghar 

 and Khipro taluqas, continuous banks on either side. The diver- 

 sion of so much water to the alluvial plains to the west, has led to 

 the gradual drying up of all the dhands on the east of the Nara in 

 Khipro and Sanghar. Although many dhands still remain, the 

 majority have vastly diminished in size or have become entirely 

 dried up. A few dhands still exist whose waters are replenished 

 by floods from the Nara, but the great majority of the present 

 dhands derive their supplies of water from springs or sims, as has 

 been explained above . 



Near the head of the Jamrao Canal, embankments have been 

 made for the purpose of controlling the flood water. As a result, 

 the dhands of the Nawabshah taluqa have in many cases dried up.' 



North of the junction of the Jamrao and the Nara, that is, m 

 lvhairpur State, the dhands show the same general tendency towards 

 desiccation, but in a much less marked degree, and their present 

 condition is not vastly different from that of 1860. 



As a rule the water of the dhands situated at a distance from 

 the Nara is highly charged with salts, while that of dhands close 

 to the Nara is in many cases fresh. This is due to the fact that 

 owing to constant flooding in the past, the dhands close to the Nara 

 have had their dissolved salts washed out of them by floods, and 

 have never become concentrated. These fresh-water' dhands are 



