Trouble in paradise
The scenic Swat valley, which is considered the ‘Switzerland of Pakistan’ is gradually losing its natural beauty due to environmental degradation caused by deforestation, air pollution, water contamination, soil erosion, population explosion, urbanisation, industrialisation, use of plastic bags, noise pollution and climate change.
Swat has been at the epicentre of many man-made tragedies and natural calamities. Be it extremism or disasters, there is no calamity that has not already descended upon Swat valley.
The population of the Swat district has increased from 1.2 million in 1998 to 2.31 million in 2017 while the only available plain area on both sides of Swat River is insufficient for the increasing population. New settlements are being made in the mountains, which are cracking the natural balance of the ecology.
Freshwater is being polluted on a daily basis in the district where an unprecedented amount of waste is dumped in Swat River.
Environmental expert Assistant Professor Dr Fazli Aziz at the Sheringal University, Upper Dir told The Express Tribune that unplanned construction of houses, commercial buildings especially close to Swat River and different streams and in the mountains is causing environmental degradation. Sewerage from houses and hotels is being dumped into Swat River, which is polluting the river.
Dr Aziz says restoration of tourism activities following the military operation without taking adequate measures for protection of environment are also causing severe environmental damage which will have devastating impacts on local population and rest of the province.
With provincial government banking tourism to revive economy, the number of tourists to the Swat valley has increased manifold but there seems to be no strategic plan which will stop the environmental degradation, he added.
The environmentalist says deforestation is also a major problem with forests being stripped to make way for commercial and other developmental activities. “The forests in the valley have also suffered immense damage during the militancy,” he added.
An environmental activist from Mingora, Shaukat Ali told The Express Tribune that during his recent visit to Kalam he noticed that the blood and other leftovers of the slaughtered animals is being flushed openly into Swat River right in the middle of Kalam valley. This is all happening right under the nose of the Kalam Tehsil municipal authorities, which are responsible for ensuring that municipal waste is dumped properly.
Ali says the Swat River, which is a vital supply of water for the communities living in the Swat valley and for people of the rest of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) province, has become a dumping site for raw sewage and rubbish.
As the river crosses through villages and bazars, the water quality and colour changes, he said.
The Water and Sanitation Services in Swat do not have any landfill sites and even the dump domestic waste in the river.
Hotels, houses in waterways
Hussain who belongs to Barikot area of Swat says that both people and the authorities have forgotten about the floods of 2010. The hotels, privately owned buildings beside and inside the river would be completely exposed in the event of another flood, he feared.
The environmentalist says the Darral Khwar, one of the main water streams that feed the mighty Swat River has been encroached upon in Bahrain area of the valley. Markets have been built inside the stream while the authorities have turned a blind to the situation. The main Bahrain market witnesses severe floods almost every year. The situation in Fizagat area of Swat is no different where hotels and restaurants have encroached on the river basin with no protection from flooding.
Hussain further said that another major issue is the unprecedented decrease in the snow in the glaciers above Kalam. Kalam visited the glaciers some 20 years ago and encountered a heavy thick snow whereas he visited again recently and observed a drastic decrease in these glaciers.
Solid waste management is necessary because this is a major cause of pollution everywhere. Even the hospitals, slaughter houses in the valley flush their waste into streams which ends in the Swat River, he informed.
Researcher, writer and advocate of the cultural and indigenous rights of the marginalised mountain communities of Pakistan Zubair Torwali told The Express Tribune that unplanned rapid urbanisation and industrialisation in Swat was one of the major causes of environmental degradation. “Climate change is being witnessed in Swat valley. Irregularity in weather pattern has increased while this year the spring weather has arrived early, which means a prolonged summer.”
Sand and gravel extraction from riverbed
Torwali says another problem is the uncontrolled and mostly illegal sand and rocks mining from Swat riverbed for construction. This practice is destroying the river, he added.
Sand and gravel extraction from the Swat Riverbed is continued unabated while the authorities remain indifferent, he said, adding that even local people living along the river are not aware that sand mining has made the river a wasteland.
As a first step to protect the Swat river and its tributaries, the government must immediately stop the illegal sand mining, he said, adding that the K-P Rivers Protection Ordinance, 2002 should be implemented in letter and spirit.
He says another major issue is the construction of houses and commercial buildings on the riverside.
The excavated material from the road between Bahrain and Kalam was thrown into the Swat River, which could cause flooding in the river during monsoon.
Torwali who hails from Bahrain area of Swat says illegal cutting of trees during the Covid-19 pandemic was very high. The forest cover in Kalam and the rest of the Swat valley has caused irreparable loss during the pandemic, he informed.
He says heavy influx of tourists is also a major problem because they throw plastic bottles and other stuff which is causing pollution in different scenic spots and lakes in Swat valley. The famous Mahodand Lake and Osho Forest in Kalam have been littered with plastic waste.
Locally made substandard snacks which are packaged in plastic in every nook and corner of the area is yet another major source of pollution. Children, adults eat and throw the plastic on the ground which eventually ends up in the small water tributaries.
Along with the forest department efforts, the authorities need to strengthen the local traditional mechanism for protection of forests. Environment impact assessment should be made a mandatory requirement before launching any development or tourism related projects in Swat, he asserted.
Water pollution
In October 2016, the K-P Fisheries Department had constituted a technical committee to investigate the incidents of a mysterious disease affecting the fish in the Swat River. A report by the committee revealed water pollution was the main cause of the the fish dying in large numbers in the rivers.
The report stated that water pollution has changed the chemical makeup of the river. It is an alarming threat to aquatic life. Rains and subsequent floods in Swat River, causes depletion of oxygen in the river water, it added.
It further stated, due to decomposition of organic waste products, the need for oxygen in the water also increased as decomposition and other chemical reactions resulted in accumulation of carbon dioxide, affecting the fish.
The report recommends a recycling unit for Mingora city so that organic waste is converted into organic fertiliser and marble factories along the riverbank should be prohibited from constructing silting tanks for deposition of their waste into the river.
Lastly, the leather and cosmetic industries should obtain a no objection certificate from the environment department before starting to function, so that heavy metal and chlorine is kept from being dumped into the river.
In another report of an enquiry conducted by the K-P Planning and Development Department it was revealed that solid waste dumped on the bank of Swat River has polluted its water, which poses a serious threat to the aquatic life.
The report read that viral diseases among fishes in Swat River were found which were caused by the dumping of solid waste on the riverbank.
It said that the diseases included Saprolegniasis (a fungal disease which affects fishes in freshwater due poor water quality) and Hemorrhagic Septicemia and had killed thousands of fishes in Swat River in the past few years.
Laws to curb Swat River pollution
In January last year, K-P Chief Minister Mahmood Khan chaired a meeting over the issue of environmental degradation in Swat especially the dumping of domestic sewerage and industrial waste into Swat River. The meeting had decided to raise the issue in the provincial assembly for making laws to curb the increasing water pollution in the valley. However, so far no progress has been witnessed in this regard.
CM Mahmood, who hails from Swat had issued directives for preventive measures to control environmental degradation in the district. He had also directed for conducting a scientific examination on the causes of environmental degradation in the district.
The provincial chief executive had warned that rapid deterioration of the environment is an alarming situation, and it was high time to take adequate measures.
The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) officials during the meeting informed that approximately 38 marble factories and 350 hotels in the area while a few industries have been set up. Of the hotels operating in the valley, 102 of them are located along the banks of the Swat River. These hotels, the chief minister was informed, dump their waste and sewage into the river. The environment protection body had serviced notices on 117 hotel owners in the valley in 2019.
The officials said that the government was still collecting data about dumping of untreated sewerage into the river. According to data collected from Matta tehsil of Swat as many as 1,450 sewerage lines empty into the river out of which at least 126 have been removed.
The EPA Regional Office Assistant Director Majid Khan told The Express Tribune that the agency has taken several measures with the assistance of district administration. The official did not mention the actions taken for protection of environment in the scenic valley.