Ignoring the fact that the lack of freshwater in the delta is destroying its ecosystem, some water experts in Pakistan consider it a waste for the Indus River to flow into the Arabian Sea. With climate change, the sea level is going to rise further, resulting in more inundation, land erosion, flooding and increased salinity.

Already, in the Indus Delta, the sea level is steadily rising. The government has taken no measures to ensure that a minimum of 10MAF (million acre feet) of water is released below the Kotri Barrage into the delta, as outlined in the 1991 Indus Water Accords. The communities living here are poor fishermen and no one listens to their powerless voice.

The seawater has so far intruded 54km upstream along the main course of the Indus River, destroying thousands of hectares of fertile land and contaminating underground water channels. According to the latest scientific report by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, “Sea levels could rise from 26cm – 98cm by the end of the 21st century, depending on global emissions levels … At the same time as sea levels are rising, most Asian deltas are sinking as a result of groundwater extraction, floodplain engineering and trapping of sediments by dams.”

The Indus Delta has seen an 80 per cent reduction in sediment since the early 20th century and the relative local sea level rise is now greater than one centimetre per year. Around 20 dams and a large number of canals divert the river’s waters en route to the Arabian Sea, leaving the delta parched.

Innovative community-based projects to climate-proof villages and mitigate the impacts of climate change are more important now than ever 

In order to make coastal communities more resilient to the impacts of climate change, the World Wide Fund for Nature-Pakistan began their Building Capacity on Climate Change Adaptation in Coastal Areas of Pakistan (CCAP) project in the Indus Delta in 2011. They have introduced elevated platforms to build raised homes so that the villagers can save themselves from storm surges and tidal flooding which are happening more frequently now.

Sakina, whose son Akram recently got married, shows off her son’s new elevated home in Siddique Dablo village located on a mud flat in Hajamro Creek in Keti Bunder Union Council. Hajamro creek is located near the mouth of the delta facing the Arabian Sea and is continuously hit by direct waves and strong winds.

“Now when the water starts rising and flooding our village, we can save all our bedding, clothing and utensils and bring our children up here. Everyone in the village wants one of these raised homes, but of course they are expensive to make because of all the wood that is used,” says Sakina. “Flooding is big problem for the villagers as the seawater keeps damaging homes; one has to keep fixing the mud and wood houses as maintenance.” Her brother Ismaeel adds, “More water is flowing into our houses than in the past. High tides come in with more intensity.”

CCAP built 20 elevated platforms at the cost of Rs 65,000 each in this village in December 2013, bearing the cost of the plinth work of the wooden platform. It was left to the villagers to bear the cost of adding homes on top of the platforms through their locally available resources. The project selected this particular village, as it is one of the poorest and most vulnerable in the area; the residents do not own large boats where they can shift their belongings during the tidal floods.

Sakina’s son Akram, takes a look around the neat wooden hut built on a wooden platform around five feet up from the ground. “There is much more work to be done here. I plan to decorate the hut and make it more comfortable for my new wife.” His family was one of the first to complete their own home on the raised platform in March 2014 at a cost of Rs 30,000. The money was used mostly to buy wood and pay for the labour to make the structure of the hut. A walk around the village reveals that other homes are slowly being made on the raised platforms.

When Cyclone Nanuk hit the coastal region last summer, these raised platforms came to the rescue of the local people in the village, who shifted all their belongings there and waited under the open sky for the water to recede for several days. The cyclone caused immense property damage as homes in the village were submerged for days.

The CCAP project built the “model elevated village” at Siddique Dablo in collaboration with the local village organisation and it was only initiated after consultations were undertaken with the villagers. The platforms were such a success that now other villagers in Hajamro Creek also want to replicate them but they will have to be built on a self-help basis. Presently, it is the best option for the villagers to keep out the rising seawater.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, January 11th, 2015

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