HYDERABAD, Feb 2: Experts on agriculture and leaders of the public opinion have blamed the acute shortage of water for destroying Sindh, calling upon the people to launch a concerted struggle for the conservation of water resources, saying that millions of people, who earned their livelihood through the River Indus and its wetlands, have been rendered jobless.

They were speaking at a function marking the ‘World Wetland Day,’ organised here on Sunday by the Sindh Taraqi Pasand Mallah Tanzeem in collaboration with the World Wildlife Fund and the district government.

The function was held on the riverbed near Hussainabad while the speakers addressed the gathering from a boat.

Speaking on the occasion, the chairman of the Tanzeem, Arib Mallah, said that during the 60s, there was an abundance of the Pallah fishes but now it was an endangered species as it had almost disappeared from the river.

Decrying the destruction of the river delta, he said that it had been destroyed because no water had been released downstream Kotri, effectively submerging 1.4 million acres of rich agricultural lands under seawater.

He said that same was the case with fresh water lakes, adding that in the coastal areas of Thatta and Badin, even drinking water was not available.

He said there were 19 wetlands in Sindh, which were on the verge of destruction.

The provincial secretary for environment, Mohammad Hashim Leghari said that in the absence of release of water downstream Kotri, 300,000 acres of the riverine forest out of a total of 700,000 acres had been destroyed in the Indus delta.

On the occasion, the DCO, Hyderabad, Mir Hussain Ali, said that the district government had decided to establish two more water treatment plants at Qasimabad and near the Zeal Pak Cement Factory, adding that there was an on-going discussion between the provincial and the federal governments for the setting up of another plant for the treatment of industrial effluent.

Federal minister Mehmood Ali, provincial secretary for wildlife Shamsul Haq Memon, Ishaque Mangrio and Nasir Ali Panhwar also spoke on the occasion.