SINCE before independence, the province of Sindh had many forests. The provincial forest department possessed about 1.2 million acres of land. However, all of this has been fast disappearing since. The rate of deforestation hastened, especially after the creation of Agriculture Development Corporation which brought colonization in 1961, slashing down forests in the process.
Rivarian villages abounded in forests. But after eight thousand acres of the land was allocated for the construction of Guddu Barrage and a colony by the Revenue Department, they too became scarce. This allotment deprived the area of fuel, decreasing the fertility of the surrounding land and made many species of animals and birds extinct. This deforestation continued in other parts of Sindh affecting Shikapur, Khipro etc.
The first real survey of Sindh’s forests was conducted in 1883. the British realized that the area yielded a handsome income. Wood obtained from the forests of upper-Sindh was loaded onto steam boats and brought to Karachi and other parts of the province through the Indus. The government earned a good amount from these forests as wood was the only source of fuel and the making of furniture.
Today, the rivarian forests have decreased from 12 lakh acres to seven lakh acres, and the irrigated inland and pastures in the mountainous areas have also dropped. The wood of the rivarian trees is suitable for making furniture. The trees are also a crop, chopped down when they reach a certain age. To cut them before age is a crime equal to murder. New plants grow automatically during the rainy and spring season to replace the hewed ones.
The forest mafia has been active for many years in cutting trees without planting new ones, resulting in the degradation of the environment. Rain has, as a result, become scarce in Sindh. Before the recent rains, drought had prevailed over the province for ten years and the shortage of irrigation water in the Indus caused the people to almost starve. Those in kachho, the coastal areas and Thar, were compelled to drink contaminated water as the ground water had fallen to a level where it became saline and toxic. As a result, people of the area suffered from water-borne diseases as gastroenteritis, diarrhoea dehydration, skin and eye-problems.
Many people tried to dig out tubewells which caused further harm by lowering the water table further. Without rain and irrigation water, the ground does not retain water which seeps into the surface resulting in contaminated ground water.
Trees drain out 40 gallons of water which eventually goes on to produce oxygen for all living things. The specie of eucalyptus was introduced in Sindh in 1970. It is beneficial to farmers in rooting out waterlogging and salinity from the area. Trees are planted along the banks of canals and highways as their roots make the soil firm checking against erosion during floods and providing humans with shelter.
Trees contribute to changing weather, attracting rains bringing the land to life with crops providing fodder for cattle leading to a stable economy.
In the summers, the rivarian areas (kutcha areas) along both the Indus’ canals are inundated with flood water. Rains swell the Indus which submerges its surrounding areas where various crops are planted. The yield of the area is more than other lands as the soil is fertile from the forests.
Khanot and Lakhrra were once rich in forest, as was Thar. But climatic conditions caused the trees to be buried underground where they turned to coal. As a result Khanot and Lakhrra are now big stores of coal. Recently, Thar too has been discovered to be a big coal reservoir.
People should grow more plants and avoid cutting trees to attract rain. Every year during the monsoon season and spring, tree plantations are carried out throughout the country. It is officially released that millions of plants have been planted. However, is it’s their eventual care that is more important. The afforestation section of the forest department should play its role in providing saplings and technical advice to those who want to make this a profession and intend to grow them as a crop.
Today, forests have now become sanctuaries of dacoits, as it is difficult for law enforcing agencies to find them there. As a result, the government had a brilliant idea and decided to cut down the forests to improve the law and order situation.
Influentials too are occupying forests areas turning them into fields. Forest officers allege that revenue officials, particularly tapedars and colonization officers allot land without consulting the forest department. The forest department has been registering cases against the occupants, but then the cases get prolonged in courts. They also cannot counter the threats of the influentials. Those days have passed when forest officers were powerful and possessed magisterial powers, deciding cases then and there. Nobody dared to take a bone from the forest.
Forest produce such as honey, wood, animals, fish, birds, herbs were the department’s source of income. But now forest officials avoid visiting the sites for fear of dacoits.
Saleem Gul Awan, a retired officer of the forest department urges that the cutting of trees be avoided and instead more trees should be planted because without trees, the chances of landslides increase.
The government should know that uprooting trees to erect commercial centres and residential accommodation increases the city’s polluted environment. Therefore it should rather ensure efforts to plant and grow more plants everywhere and ensure their survival.
