Thar coal project: Dam will destroy our livelihoods, claim locals

Local villagers demand SHC to stay construction of dam

HYDERABAD: A group of residents of Tharparkar district have challenged the construction of a storage dam for the Thar coal project in the Sindh High Court (SHC), which has issued notices to the respondents for July 4.

The petitioners, Lakho Bheel, Suleman Jurio, Misri Shah and eight others, claim that the proposed 2,700-acre dam will adversely affect their livelihood and damage the local ecosystem.

The dam, being established near Ghorano village in Islamkot taluka in Thar Block-II by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), will store highly saline subsoil water which will be pumped out from the aquifers to allow for the open-pit mining of coal.

The petitioners have maintained that they are small land growers in Shiv Jo Tar, Ghoarno, Ahsan Shah Jo Tar and Suleman Haja villages of Islamkot. They allege that 15 villages with a population of around 15,000 would be affected along with their agricultural land and around 20,000 livestock animals if the dam is constructed.

They also claimed that unlike most villages in Tharparkar desert, theirs are rich in agriculture with about 20,000 trees, 20 potable water wells and 10 natural ponds; all of which will be affected by the dam.



The petitioners allege that the government has stopped them from cultivating the land since the start of last month. “We have been threatened and warned to vacate our houses and land,” the petition reads.

The farmers have termed the alleged land occupation as a violation of the Land Acquisition Act, 1984, and claim that the local police and administration are in league with the respondents.

The petitioners prayed the court declare the construction illegal, not feasible and environmentally hazardous, and stop the respondents from harassment and order the government to allow the farmers to continue cultivating their land.

Though the petitioners’ plea for issuing a stay on the dam’s construction till the judgment of the case was not granted, the SHC’s Hyderabad Circuit Bench put the respondents on notice for July 4. The respondents include the provincial planning and development ministry, Sindh chief secretary, Thar Coal Energy Board, Thar Coal Authority, SECMC and Balochistan Construction Company.

The SECMC, a joint venture of the Sindh government and the Engro Powergen Limited, plans to produce 3,960 megawatt (MW) of electricity through four 330MW and four 660MW plants.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2016.