KARACHI, Aug 21: Living along and around lakes, rivers and other water bodies is not a new phenomena as most civilisation began their evolution from such places, but those who live in the comforts of the cities throughout their life may find it very difficult to reconcile with the fact that even in the modern era of 21st century, there are people who have been spending much of their life on the surface of water.
Called locally as Mirbahar and Mallah communities, they are fishermen who would spend a few days at home after months of voyage in their small boats.
Settled along the coast of Sindh, these communities form an estimated population of well over five million and around 2.5 million souls are directly dependant on fishing and boating professions for their livelihood. Because of depletion of water resources and reduction in fish stocks, much of the population has been compelled to quit their ancestral profession and switch over to some other one, a survey shows.
Since they regard their boats as the symbol of their identity, the fishermen communities attach great importance to it and are often found busy to renovate them so as to add more and more attraction, comfort and strength. After all they have to spend much of their life within the hollows of the boats. They also put up their family boats in clusters, forming boat villages.
They brave the scorching heat of summers, freezing cold of winter and some times wrath of high tide stormy winds. They also have to leave their families at the mercy of nature in the struggle for survival. But irony of the fact is that their sacrifices and services are never acknowledged by any government.
So far, no government has extended due recognition to this neglected segment of the society which is deprived of almost all basic facilities for decades. Although, their villages are symbols of abject poverty and backwardness, the authorities always appeared quite indifferent towards their sufferings.
A number of NGOs and CBOs have been formed with a view to take up their issues with the relevant authorities and seek solution to their problems. One if such organisations is the Sindh Taraqqi Pasand Tanzeem which has been struggling for quite some time for creating social awareness among members of these communities and highlighting their problems by holding seminars, meetings, etc. But these efforts are yet to produce the desired results.
The survey shows that the most pressing problem is the non-availability of essential facilities, even potable water, at their settlements. Waterborne diseases are the most common health hazard afflicting the fishermen communities and the root-cause is consumption of contaminated water which the poor people could not avoid in the absence of any other option.
Representatives of these fishermen communities at a recent seminar criticised the government for not giving them representation at the forums that were assigned the task of framing fisheries policies.
They also pointed out that livelihood of hundreds of fishermen families living along the coast of Sindh was under threat because of over-fishing by local fishermen and foreign trawlers, and urged the government to take urgent measures to ensure a smooth breeding and grooming of all local fish species in their favourite habitat by protecting the marine life and environment from destructive activities of deep-sea trawler operators and unscrupulous fishermen.
