HYDERABAD: Availability of water for dams questioned
Bureau Report
HYDERABAD, Dec 21: Speakers at a workshop, representing a broad spectrum of civil society, have rejected the construction of any dam on the River Indus.
They recommended that before taking up any dam project, quantity of available water should be determined and release of water downstream Kotri be ensured.
They were speaking at a workshop on “Environmental Flows Requirement — Impacts on Aquatic Life, Biodiversity, Floodplains and Ecosystems” here on Saturday.
The workshop was jointly organized by the Internation Union for Conservation of Nature, World Conservation Union and Pakistan Water Partnership and pertained to the IUCN’s consultative project on the World Commission report on dams.
The speakers said the construction of dams was a violation of the Constitution and if Sindh was not given its due water share, it would lead to unrest.
They said that with the diversion of water from the Indus river to the Thal canal, there would be no water for three million acres of land in Sindh.
Sindh Chamber of Agriculture president Syed Qamaruzzaman Shah said if the storage capacity of ponds in villages was increased, two million acres of land could be irrigated in Sindh.
Sindh Abadgar Board president Abdul Majeed Nizamani said eight talukas of Thatta and Badin districts, 1.5 million acres of farmland and sources of livelihood of tens of thousands of people had been destroyed due to non-release of water downstream Kotri.
Mr Nizamani said 600,000 acres of forestry, Palla fish and several human settlements had disappeared for the same reason besides sea water had eroded thousands of acres of land.
He sarcastically said Sindh had been converted into an outfall drain of whole of Pakistan.
He pointed out that 60 per cent of water could be saved through the lining of watercourse but regretted the government was paying no attention to this important matter and was adamant on the construction of dams.
Irrigation expert Qazi Abdul Majeed argued that it was a legal and constitutional right of Sindh that it should be guaranteed its due share of water as it was located at the tail- end of the river. He emphasised that under no circumstances should delta be ignored.
The chairman, consultative process, Pakistan Council of the World Commission on Dams, Justice (retd) Nasir Aslam Zahid said that under the aegis of IUCN such workshops had already been held in Quetta, Skardu, Lahore and Peshawar and the last one would be held in Haripur on Dec 29.
He said that a meeting of the council would be held on Dec 30 and the recommendations would be submitted to the government by March 31.
He said the recommendations of this workshop would be included in the report of the council.
Irrigation expert Nazeer Memon said underground water level was decreasing in Sindh due to water shortage and rotation programmes of canals.
A representative of the Planning Commission, Abdul Hafeez, said all the pros and cons, including water release downstream Kotri, would be given due consideration while planning water projects.
South Asia Technical Advisory Committee on Water chairman Sardar Mohammad Tariq explained the World Commission report on dams. He said keeping in view the decline in water resources, one should not become emotional on the issue of water reservoirs.
During discussion by several groups, it was recommended that no dam should be constructed on the Indus River, the 1991 water accord should be implemented in letter and spirit and a study should be conducted without delay on water release downstream Kotri.
It was also recommended that Sindh should be compensated for its losses due to water shortage by the federation and Punjab.
It was demanded that preference should be given to the tail- enders in water supply and the performance of Indus River System Authority should be improved.
It was recommended the water theft through the Chashma-Jehlum link canal should be stopped and small dams and ponds should be constructed in Dadu district and other areas.
The recommendations called for the rehabilitation of rain and flood affected people of Thatta and Badin districts.
