SEA intrusion in Sindh continues to devastate the ecology of the Indus delta and has not only rendered two coastal towns almost extinct, but also destroyed fertile farmlands in Thatta and Badin districts.

Over 50pc of the land in the two towns — Kharo Chan and Keti Bandar — remains submerged in seawater, while the rest has been destroyed by salinity. Only a few thousand fishermen reside along the coastal belt of these two devastated towns, where a large community once did roaring fish business.

To save other cities from sea intrusion, about 3.5-million acre feet (MAF) of water needs to be left in the Indus to go into the sea. The rise in the sea level, an offshoot of climate change, is taking place at a rate of 1.3mm per year.

According to Mustafa Gurgaiz, president of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, Keti Bander was swallowed by the sea twice before, and on both occasions its residents had shifted to the coastline and rebuilt the town. This is the third time that the town has been threatened. In some villages the only source of drinking water is groundwater, which has unfortunately become saline due to seawater intrusion.

The water is causing abdominal and skin diseases among the local population. Many individuals are in possession of documents showing ownership of hundreds of acres of land, but there is nothing but seawater on the site. Many of them, who were well-off two decades ago, are living a poor man’s life.

The mangrove ecosystem of the Indus delta is perhaps unique in being the largest area of arid climate mangroves in the world

Thatta, a predominantly agricultural district, is situated where the Indus flows into the Arabian Sea. It is estimated that over 12pc of the cultivated area in the entire province, mostly in Thatta and adjoining areas, is now affected by sea intrusion. In addition to crop losses, livestock development has also badly suffered owing to rangeland depletion and a shortage of fodder, pasture and watering areas.

According to an IUCN report, 486,000 hectares (33pc) of the delta in the coastal towns of Thatta and Badin were estimated to have been degraded by 2000, dislocating a population of 250,000.

During a briefing on ‘sea intrusion into the coastal areas of Sindh and Balochistan’ for the members of the Senate’s Standing Committee on Science and Technology this February, the government was warned that Badin and Thatta would drown by 2050 and Karachi by 2060 if immediate steps were not taken to address the deteriorating situation.

The secretary of the Sindh Board of Revenue told the committee that there were reports that some parts of Malir had also been affected by sea intrusion. A survey was being conducted to ascertain the facts. Meanwhile, a Badin administration official informed the committee members that over 31,000 acres of land in the district had been submerged.

The Director General of the National Institute of Oceanography (NIO) said the main reason for sea intrusion was that for 300 days in a year, the water of the Indus does not go beyond Sajawal in Sindh. After a cyclone in 1999, he said, seawater entered the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD), which was meant to drain out the excess saline water back to the canal.

The LBOD has been held responsible by civil society groups since the 1990s for altering the drainage and water-flow patterns in lower Sindh, specifically in Badin and Thatta, and for causing worse flooding in the two districts.

The underground water reserves are fast depleting because of their excessive use in Sindh. The result is that sweet underground water is being replaced with saline water at an alarming pace.

The Indus delta is a typical fan-shaped delta, built by the discharge of large quantities of silt washed down from upland and mountain areas. The present delta covers an area of about 600,000 hectares and is characterised by 17 major creeks and innumerable minor creeks, mud flats and mangroves.

The Indus delta’s mangrove ecosystem is perhaps unique in being the largest area of arid climate mangroves in the world. As annual rainfall is very low in the region, the mangroves are almost wholly dependent upon freshwater discharges from the river, supplemented by a small quantity of run-off and effluents from Karachi.

It was suggested that the Senate committee ask the prime minister to make sea intrusion a part of the agenda of the Council of Common Interests so that effective steps could be taken in a short time span to save the coastal areas from getting drowned by seawater.

Meanwhile, the committee should also approach the Planning Commission to include various projects in the coastal areas in its Vision 2025 programme.

Published in Dawn, Business & Finance weekly, October 19th , 2015

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