HYDERABAD, Dec 18: Expressing concern over contamination of Indus waters downstream Kotri Barrage notwithstanding the fact that polluted water of Manchhar Lake is being released into the river, District Nazim Hyderabad Kanwar Naveed Jamil said on Tuesday that the presence of 350 milligramme per litre of total dissolved salts (TDS) at Kotri Barrage has proved presence of ‘other elements’ polluting Indus waters.

He asked the Sindh government and Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) to take immediate steps and identify causes of contamination and take effective measures in this regard.

He was speaking at a meeting convened at the request of Chief Engineer Sukkur Barrage, Atta Mohammad Soomro, to determine schedule for the release of Manchhar Lake water into River Indus.

The District Nazim said if causes of pollution of Indus waters were not identified, situation like 2004 when many people lost their lives would be created in Hyderabad, Tando Muhammad Khan, Matiari, Thatta and other downstream towns.

Besides Chief Engineer Sukkur Barrage, the DCO Hyderabad Aftab Ahmed Khatri, Executive Engineer Southern Irrigation Division, Dad Mohammad Alam Khoso, member Left Bank Canal Area Water Board, Major (Rtd) Umer Farooq Khan, Managing Director Wasa Mohammad Basheer Awan, Water Technologist Dr Akleem Hyder and other concerned officials attended the meeting.

He demanded of the EPA to take notice of the alarming situation and identify causes due to which Indus River was being polluted at Kotri Barrage. He said at Sukkur Barrage Upstream, the quantity of TDS was only 188mg per litre against the WHO standards of 500mg per litre while the quantity of mercury was zero.

He said this quality of water was most suitable for human consumption. He, however, said the quantity of 350mg of TDS and 0.18 microgram of mercury at Kotri Barrage was a matter of grave concern because not a drop of water was being released from Manchhar Lake into River Indus.

He said this clearly indicated that there were some other causes of pollution of Indus waters which must be identified without delay as around 50 human lives were lost in Hyderabad in 2004 due to the consumption of contaminated water.

The meeting was informed that under special instructions from the District Nazim Hyderabad, a team of officers visited Sukkur Barrage, Aral Wah, Manchhar Lake and MNV drain Jamshoro and obtained and analysed water quality.

It was decided that as long as annual cleansing programme of canals by the Irrigation Department was in progress, no water will be released from Manchhar Lake into River Indus. It was further decided that at the end of this period, another meeting will be held to determine the quantum of water that may be released from Manchhar Lake into the river.