HYDERABAD, Nov 11: Sindh NGOs Federation (SINGOF) organized a seminar on greater Thal canal project and water issues of Sindh at the Sindhi Language Authority auditorium here on Sunday.

The seminar was presided over by Ms Khawar Mumtaz, secretary of Pakistan NGOs Forum (PNF), an alliance of NGOs’ network of the four provinces and Islamabad region.

Delegates from Sarhad NGOs Ittehad (SNI), Balochistan NGOs Federation (BNGOF), Committee of Rawalpindi and Islamabad region NGOs (CORIN), Punjab NGOs Coordinating Council (PNCC) and SINGOF attended the seminar.

Prof Mushtaq Mirani said in his presentation that water accords between the provinces must be honoured and implemented and added that Wapda, Irsa and other federal bodies responsible for equitable distribution of water should respect the rights of smaller provinces instead of supporting Punjab.

He said that Wapda and Irsa had always been violating the agreements between the provinces and they had never acknowledged the inherent, human, constitutional and economic rights of the federating units.

He deplored that Sindh had always been deprived of its national, economic and basic rights.

He pointed out that there was a world of difference in the yield of crops between Punjab and Sindh and added that while Punjab produced bumper wheat crop this year, Sindh had sustained huge losses.

Journalist G.N. Mughal shared with the audience his observations of a visit of mediamen from Sindh to Kalabagh and Thal site at the invitation of Wapda.

He said that Wapda chairman Zulfiqar Ali Khan had given assurance to the journalists of Sindh that no project included in Wapda’s vision 2025 would be initiated unless agreed by the provinces but the journalists were surprised to witness that the work at the Thal site was going in full swing.

He urged the representatives of Punjab NGOs to raise voice against such contradictions.

Mr Tahir Qureshi, director programmes, International Union for Conservation of Nature, told the seminar that the ecology of Indus delta had been destroyed due to non-availability of water downstream Kotri for the last many years.

He said that millions of mangroves and bio-diversity were at stake. He added that people had migrated from the coastal areas and the seawater had destroyed thousands of acres of fertile agricultural land.

He lamented that the biggest lake of Asia, Manchhar was dying due to non-availability of fresh water.

He urged the government and NGOs to unite to save Indus delta and Manchhar Lake.

The SINGOF chairman Prof Eijaz Qureshi highlighted the issue of water shortage in Sindh and its impact on the economy of the province.

The chairperson of the session Ms Khawar Mumtaz in her concluding remarks appreciated the case of Sindh presented in the seminar and lauded the efforts of SINGOF in organizing the seminar on the burning issue.

She said that it was for the first time that the case of Sindh was presented through facts and figures before the NGOs of Pakistan.

She added that the presentations made at this seminar would lead to research on these issues of other provinces also.

She also dwelt at length on other issues concerning the civil society of the country.