KARACHI: Ways discussed to mitigate effects of RBOD on environment
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, July 20: Stakeholders have expressed concerns over the negative environmental, ecological and socio-economic effects of the proposed extension works of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) from Sehwan to the sea.
They spoke at a public hearing for environmental impact assessment (EIA) of the extension of the RBOD at the headquarters of the Environmental Protection Agency, Sindh, on Saturday.
At least 20 people, representing different government offices and NGOs as well as fishermen, called for updating of the EIA report, incorporating the suggestions and quantifying the concerns of the stakeholders and provision of mitigation measures to address the adverse environmental impacts.
Prof Dr Iqbal Ali, on behalf of the consultant and the owner of the project of the irrigation and power department, Sindh, presented a comprehensive EIA report during the public hearing which was conducted by director general of SEPA, Shafiq Ahmed Khoso.
This is for the first time that the EIA was presented by a government department (IPD) for the approval of the stakeholders. However, some key government officials and Nazims of the districts concerned failed to attend the review and consultation meeting.
The RBOD (stage-1) exists up to the Karampur village, three miles short of Indus. It was not allowed to be completed because in that case the drainage effluents would have been discharged into the Indus river as was planned previously, said an expert.
At present, the drainage water is flowing into Manchar, a sweet water lake, as a result of which the salinity of Manchar has gone up from 855 ppm in 1991 to 5500 ppm in 1998. Under the extension project, it has been aimed that RBOD stage-1 effluent will be carried from the Karampur village to the Gharo creek, bypassing Manchar and River Indus.
According to the government sources, the project is ready for implementation and if things go well and it will start by October 2002. In the meantime, some preliminary works have also been undertaken on ground by IPD and army engineers for the project scheduled to be completed by 2006, with a cost of Rs14 to 16 billion.
The main issues raised during the public hearing included the impact of the RBOD extension on the Hudero and Haleji lakes on the Gharo creek, protection of the river Indus at the Lakhi hills from the drain and vice versa.
The project in question is maintained as an environmentally-friendly method of disposing the RBOD agriculture effluent into the sea, but there are some sensitive sections on the alignment from Sehwan to the sea with regard to topography and environment.
Since the proposed alignment passes very close to the Hadro and Haleji lakes which are wildlife sanctuaries (protected areas), some engineering solutions and precautionary measures were also suggested during the meeting.
The Speakers also referred to the issues like soil erosion and clearance of vegetation during the construction phase and issues regarding the operation and maintenance phase of the drain. Exploration of ways and means were also stressed for social and economic acceptability of the project by the local people and the stakeholders.
The EIA report stressed the need to monitor the 20-25 cusecs untreated industrial waste-water from the Kotri Industrial Area, which would be discharged into the RBOD. At present, it is being discharged into the KB feeder canal which carries drinking water for Karachi.
People have fear loosing their agricultural lands as the socio-economic survey in the EIA indicated that stakeholders were not willing to surrender their land for the RBOD. It was further viewed that the compensation issues be settled before the start of the project for construction of 274-km-long drain.
It was further said that major towns were likely to be affected in the wake of dust emission due to excavation. The EIA report was also criticized for quoting old data pertaining to birds and for not addressing the concerns regarding the wildlife properly.
The report was also criticized for not touching upon the pesticide levels, heavy metals and fertilizers in water to flow through the proposed drain. However, the representatives of the project consultant said that such issues had already been considered and there was no possibility of any further adverse effects of the RBOD water on fish.
The meeting was also informed that a team of the EIA and EPA officials and other experts had visited the Haleji site of the RBOD extension on July 19 to gauge the environmental problems likely to be created when the RBOD passed close to the Haleji lake; and on the spot decisions were taken to remedy the potential problems and it had been agreed to take the alignment of the RBOD extension from Haleji as far as possible to save the lake from the possible negative impact of the drain.
At the meeting, the proponent department, the IPD, was urged to develop an environmental management plan for the mitigation of environmental issues. It was also suggested to establish an environmental section within the organization to monitor the impacts of the project.
The participants of the public hearing also called for building up the confidence of the local population and other stakeholders afraid of the project. It was said that seminars and workshops as well as meeting with the local people in the project area would help them understand the benefits of the project.
After a thorough discussion, it was decided that the mitigation measures as suggested by the participants would be incorporated in the final EIA documents and necessary changes, if needed, would be made to the design of the RBOD extension project.
