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Today's Paper | April 30, 2024

Published 06 Jun, 2013 05:04am

Plea to save Indus delta

THE Indus delta, the sixth largest in the world, unfortunately is on the verge of death in Pakistan due to man-made disaster for the last many years.

It was envisaged in the 1991 Water Accord that a limited quantity of release of water downstream Kotri would be mandatory till the survey was conducted to fix the exact quantity of water to be released.

But after 23 years of the signing, the accord is not being implemented in letter and in spirit due to intransigence of Punjab.

As a result, 2.6 million human beings living in the area between Kotri and the Arabian Sea are facing hunger and thirst. It is unfortunate that the non-release of the badly needed water has resulted in the destruction of the Indus delta, intrusion of sea water inundating 2.7 million acres of fertile land in Badin and Thatta districts, besides inviting environmental disaster to the area forcing some one million people to migrate to safer areas.

These are major problems the people of Sindh are facing nowadays. The federal ministry of water and power should look into the problem and ensure the implementation of the water accord, including release of the mandatory limited quantity of water (10 MAF) downstream Kotri.

MOHAMMAD KHAN SIAL Karachi

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