A Sindh irrigation audit has put Rs23.95 billion in public spending under the microscope, after auditors recorded financial irregularities and rule violations in the provincial Irrigation Department for 2024–25. The money was meant for managing Sindh’s irrigation network and carrying out development schemes. The Auditor General of Pakistan — the federation’s top public-accounts watchdog — has sent a detailed 54-point report to the Sindh irrigation secretary for further action.
What the audit flagged
Auditors described a wide set of financial and administrative lapses. These included alleged manipulation of contract awards, questionable procurements, and payments that did not follow approved rules. The report also pointed to the unlawful splitting of contracts and procedural breaches in how bills were processed and cleared.
Development work did not escape scrutiny. The audit said mandatory steps for approving and executing projects were allegedly bypassed. Some spending was presented as emergency work, even though auditors raised questions about whether that justification was lawful and whether the public purse suffered losses as a result. Allegedly illegal tenders and procurements that broke prescribed regulations were also listed among the findings.
Flood embankments and missing paperwork
One concrete example involved expenditure running into millions of rupees to fill breaches in flood embankments. According to the audit, the department did not give the audit team satisfactory legal or documentary grounds for that large outlay. In a province where embankments protect farmland and settlements when rivers rise, gaps in paperwork around such repairs deepen concern over how flood-protection money is spent.
What happens next
Audit authorities have called for a transparent investigation into the reported irregularities and for legal action against officials found responsible. The report now sits with the Sindh irrigation secretary, who must decide how the department responds, including any internal inquiries or references for further scrutiny. No figures beyond the Rs23.95 billion total, and no named officials, were set out in the material available for this account.
For farmers and canal users, irrigation budgets are not abstract: they pay for channels, regulators and embankment work that keep water flowing and floods at bay. A Sindh irrigation audit of this scale therefore matters because it asks whether funds earmarked for that infrastructure were handled within the rules.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Sindh Irrigation Department ke 2024-25 ke kharche par audit hua hai. Audit ne kaha hai ke qareeban 23.95 arab rupay ke mamlat mein rules tootay aur irregularities milin. Contract, kharidari aur flood embankment ke kharche sawalon ke daire mein hain. Ab report secretary ko bhej di gayi hai taake investigation ho aur zimmedar afsaran ke khilaf qanooni iqdam ho sake.
