Quenching the thirst: Fishermen pay tribute to the sea

Residents of Karachi's coastal villages call to the govt to provide them with potable water.

KARACHI: Clad in colourful traditional dresses, women carried earthen jars brimming with freshwater to pay tribute to the sea as residents from the villages of Karachi's coast thronged Seaview on Wednesday.

The event was organised by Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) as a part of its two-week celebration of the International Day of Action for Rivers, which includes activities to promote the culture of coastal and riverside communities.

A caravan led by PFF chairperson Muhammad Ali Shah gathered at Seaview, where they threw rose-petals and poured freshwater into the sea, symbolically quenching its thirst.

The women called upon the government to similarly provide them with water. The residents of more than 800 villages dotting the city's coastline have no access to potable water.

Shah, meanwhile, said that the symbolic ritual was also a way of demanding that the government restore the flow of the Indus River, which feeds the Indus Delta. He sought the release of 3.5 million acre feet of water downstream from Kotri to save the delta, adding that the sea intrusion had engulfed more than three million acres of fertile land, affecting hundreds of previously flourishing villages.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 5^th, 2015.