HYDERABAD, April 11: The Sindh Water Committee (SWC) has emphasized the need for conducting a study to determine water needs of downstream Kotri areas and urged the federal government to ensure adequate supply of water to the areas before contemplating any project on the Indus.
The demand was made at an emergency meeting of the committee held here on Thursday.
Terming the release of adequate water to downstream Kotri areas imperative, the SWC said that it was vital for the very survival of the growers and fishermen of the area.
The SWC meeting decided to postpone its ‘Stop Construction of Greater Thal Canal’ conference, scheduled for April 13, till next month.
The SWC decided to postpone the conference till May due to the events unfolding in Iraq, saying that it was an expression of solidarity with the Iraqi people against the unjust and brutal war imposed upon them by the United States and Britain.
Reiterating its stand that the water supply in the Indus River system was insufficient to justify the construction of the greater Thal canal, the meeting cited figures about the total water released downstream Kotri during 2000-2001, 2001-2002 and 2002-2003, saying that the water released in the above mentioned periods amounted to only 0.7 million-acre feet, 1.9 MAF and 2.1 MAF, respectively.
It, the committee held, showed the distortion of facts by the officials of Wapda and the Punjab government, who, it added, had constantly cited inflated figures about the water released below the Kotri Barrage to justify the unjust distribution of irrigation water.
It said that other important factors — like abnormal global weather patterns, forecast of future shortages, greenhouse effect, decrease in snowfall in the Himalaya region, India’s intention to build dams on the River Jhelum and apprehensions regarding greater offtake of water by Afghanistan from Kabul River — had also been totally ignored.
Under the circumstances, the committee said, the construction of the greater Thal canal was unjustified.
It maintained that Sindh had enormously suffered during the past four years because of unjust distribution of irrigation water and usurpation of its financial resources by the ruling elite through various illegal and unconstitutional measures.
The meeting deplored that on the one hand, the agricultural economy of Sindh had been devastated due to water shortage while Punjab had cultivated over an area greater than ever before and on the other, the NFC Award was being delayed on one or the other pretext, adding that the present fund distribution formula favoured Punjab at the cost of Sindh.
It demanded of the authorities to immediately stop the construction of the greater Thal canal and cautioned that any attempt to divert the waters of River Indus and its tributaries would be against the national interests.
FARES: The secretary of the District Regional Transport Authority, Hyderabad, has warned the private transport owners of strict action if they charged more than the fixed fares from the passengers. Referring to the public complaints regarding over-charging, the secretary, DRTA, in a statement issued the other day, advised the passengers not to pay fare in excess of the revised rates.
