THATTA: Food shortage and climate change have become major threats facing the world and if the stakeholders continued with their indifferent attitude towards these issues and failed to prepare a comprehensive policy, the situation will worsen.

This was observed by speakers at a one-day seminar titled ‘Climate change and food shortage threat’ organised by the Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum (PFF) here at the Thatta press club on Thursday.

PFF chairman Mohammed Ali Shah in his speech claimed that due to failed policies, massive corruption, step-motherly treatment on the part of the federal government with the smaller federating units, Thar, Kohistan and coastal areas in Sindh had turned into Ethiopia.

He said Sindh coastal population had witnessed consecutive catastrophes, including cyclones, floods, torrential rains and non-release of sweet water into downstream Indus, but the federal and provincial governments were still playing silent spectators.

Research Scholar Dr Muhammad Ali Manjhi, academician Asif Qureshi and Fatima Majeed, seconding the the PFF chairman’s views, contended that non-release of the minimum required quantum of water i.e. 35 MAF into the Indus downstream Kotri for over 20 years had destroyed dozens of forests along both banks of the river right from Hyderabad to the last coastal settlement, Kharochann, at Indus delta.

The non-release of water rendered its fatal impact on coastline resulted in inundation of more than 1.3 million acres of fertile agricultural land under the oceanic water and the fatal process was still under way.

Dr Manjhi told the audience that due to the negligence and unavailability of a relevant policy, the people of Thar were facing starvation and the population from Thar, Kohistan and coastal areas were migrating to safer areas.

Salahuddin Junejo, Maria Soomro and Khuda Bux Behrani stated that out of over seven billion population of the world, some 3 billion was facing chronic food shortage but the civilised world seemed to be calculative and cautious. Unfortunately, the countries like Pakistan were being tranquilised; they were making no efforts, and not even formulating a future policy to overcome the existing crises and the challenges ahead.

Journalist Mehboob Brohi, stressing the need for launching an intensified campaign against environmental changes and food shortage and steps towards release of water into Indus as well as reactivation of Indus delta, called upon the authorities to take appropriate and timely measures so as to save further loss of lives in Thar and Kohistan.

Participants through a unanimously passed resolution demanded demolition of all dams over Indus and dismantling of canals flowing from it to remove obstructions in its way to the delta. It demanded reacquiring of the entire land of the forests department in the kutcha areas leased out to people along both banks of River Indus right from Kashmore to Ketibunder and afforestation on that land to control future environmental problems in Sindh.

The resolution also demanded shelving of the Zulfiqarabad mega project, adding that investments to be incurred on it be utilised on the threatening issues as well as development of lower Sindh.

The resolution also said the government should take immediate steps to improve standard of the life of the downtrodden, particularly the people of tail-end districts who are living below the poverty line and stoppage of the allotment of state land to outsiders in Sindh.

Published in Dawn, January 2nd, 2015