{"id":20112217,"date":"2025-01-20T12:44:29","date_gmt":"2025-01-20T11:44:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/?p=20112217"},"modified":"2025-01-20T12:45:11","modified_gmt":"2025-01-20T11:45:11","slug":"lack-of-maintenance-of-sudans-jebel-aulia-dam-threatens-life-of-many","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.dabangasudan.org\/en\/all-news\/article\/lack-of-maintenance-of-sudans-jebel-aulia-dam-threatens-life-of-many","title":{"rendered":"Lack of maintenance of Sudan\u2019s Jebel Aulia dam threatens life of many"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Report by <\/em>Elnoor<\/em> Abdallah<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The thousands of <\/strong>people who lost their mudbrick homes in <\/strong>Elgezira<\/strong> Aba <\/strong>in the end of last year, <\/strong>due to flooding of the White Nile, <\/strong>are not the only victims of the high-water level, mainly caused by the lack of <\/strong>operations <\/strong>of the Jebel <\/strong>Aulia<\/strong> dam, south of Khartoum<\/strong>, as farming in White Nile state is also seriously affected. Experts warn for <\/strong>more<\/strong> flooding if <\/strong>the dam is not maintained soon.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\u00a0more than 16,000<\/a>\u00a0newly displaced\u00a0are living rough in a makeshift camp\u00a0outsidethis\u00a0large island in the White Nile, some 250 kilometres south of Khartoum.\u00a0The needs are\u00a0high,\u00a0and\u00a0deceases are spreading.\u00a0Sudanese charity organisations and volunteers are providing basic food aid.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other residents of the island and those who earlier sought refuge there from the violence in their places of origin after war broke out between the army and the RSF nearly two years ago, are also suffering from diseases, such as cholera and malaria. The Sudanese Red Crescent has distributed purification tablets to the people living on the island, as the floods also affected the operations of the local water purification plant. The only hospital on Elgezira Aba is manned by one doctor and is in dire need of medicines. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The large island in the White Nile, with a population of around 105.000 people, was among the most affected areas after the river\u2019s water level rose to more than fourmeters in November. Other areas near the river were also flooded. After continuing and persistent call for help, retired engineers volunteered to enter the Jebel Aulia damand open the water gates in end December, after which the water receded quickly, and a major disaster had been averted.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jebel <\/strong>Aulia<\/strong> <\/strong>d<\/strong>am<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Last year, Sudanese experts warned more than once of the consequences of deteriorated security situation near the Jebel Aulia dam in the northern part of the White Nile. Maintenance stopped since battles between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) took place in the area in end 2023.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Jebel Aulia dam, 44 kilometres south of central Khartoum, was established in 1937, to raise the water level on the banks of the White Nile south of the dam and facilitate mechanic irrigation during the agricultural season in El Gezira and White Nile state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the required maintenance\u00a0of the dam stopped since the RSF\u00a0took control of the area<\/a>\u00a0in November\u00a02023,\u00a0as engineers could not reach the area anymore. This\u00a0led to serious concerns about the possibility to irrigate White Nile state farms,\u00a0freelance\u00a0journalisted\u00a0Elnoor\u00a0Abdallah\u00a0reported last week on\u00a0El Jaser online news<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n

In\u00a0mid-August\u00a0last year<\/a>,\u00a0Yousef El Hasani, head of the\u00a0White Nile Farmers Association\u00a0said\u00a0in\u00a0an urgent call\u00a0to White Nile\u00a0state Governor\u00a0Omar\u00a0El\u00a0Khalifa and\u00a0to\u00a0the\u00a0RSF\u00a0Command\u00a0that the state\u2019s farms and agricultural projects depending on irrigation during the winter season\u00a0were\u00a0threatened\u00a0because of\u00a0the low level of the Nile water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Engineers and technicians \u201cneed regular access to the Jebel Aulia dam reservoir to carry out their technical work to maintain the operational system and adjust the water levels according to irrigation needs levels in the agricultural areas south of the dam,\u201d he stated.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

El Hasani further noted that \u201call water revenues allocated to agricultural projects south of the dam, including the large national sugar production facilities in the White Nile [the Kenana, White Nile, and the Asalaya sugar plants], will all go north\u201d. If the engineers are not able to access the operation system of the Jebel Aulia dam, \u201cthe damage for agriculture south of the dam reservoir will be very large,\u201d he warned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe, farmers in irrigated projects and good citizens, launch this appeal to the two [warring] parties, to remedy the matter and coordinate with the irrigation department so they can send engineers and their safety is ensured when they are working on this facility – similar to the coordination that took place to maintain affected facilities such as communication services, electricity, and water in several areas of armed conflict. In this way, we will be able to catch up with the agricultural season for the summer and winter of 2024,\u201d the White Nile Farmers Association said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Expert concerns<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The White Nile Organisation for Resource Development has been following the consequences of the situation at the Jebel Aulia dam since fighting broke out in the area in 2023 and has been seeking ways to arrange a safe access for engineers, technicians and workers to the dam reservoir to adjust the water levels by controlling the necessary drainage.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The organisation has more than once urged the government of White Nile state to take steps and has called on the UN Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the Horn of Africa\u2019s Intergovernmental Authority on Development (IGAD), and the African Union to intervene and help out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Economist and former Minister of Investment El Hadi Ibrahim believes that a speedy return to the regular operation of the Jebel Aulia dam is not only needed for a successful agricultural season in central Sudan, but also for \u201cwarding off the great riskof the collapse of the vital dam reservoir\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe collapse of the dam resulting from the ongoing conflict may lead to the destruction of areas along the White Nile including in the national capital and other places on the riverbank.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In in November last year, rumours circulated about the destruction of the entire dam after the Sudanese army drones bombed the Jebel Aulia “scaffold bridge\u201d of the Jabal Awlia reservoir.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Former White Nile state Minister of Agriculture, Fatima Abdelkarim, however reported at the time that \u201cthe body of the main reservoir is intact. What has been destroyed is the crane that controls the gates of the reservoir\u201d and reassured that it could be repaired. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

She further warned that investors are reluctant to invest in agricultural projects in White Nile state, due to the security situation and the delay in irrigation in the northern parts of the state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Earlier,\u00a0Tajeldin\u00a0El\u00a0Khazin, chief\u00a0consultant at the Sub-Saharan\u00a0Africa\u00a0Center,\u00a0had\u00a0warned of the danger\u00a0coming from\u00a0the source of the White Nile<\/a>,\u00a0Lake Victoria, in Uganda,\u00a0after more than average rainfall in the region last year. He\u00a0explained\u00a0that\u00a0the Jebel\u00a0Aulia\u00a0was built to regulate water only,\u00a0without storage\u00a0facilities,\u00a0and warned that\u00a0areas of at least\u00a040 kilometres\u00a0inland\u00a0of the White Nile\u00a0would\u00a0be flooded.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If the water pressure on the dam will be too high, the gates may collapse, and the water sweep the houses at the White Nile banks in Omdurman and Khartoum. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

<\/p>\n