Reviving the Indus

The mighty Indus is rightly described as a lifeline for Pakistan

Originating in the glacial fed Tibetan Plateau, the Indus flows through India and then traverses across the entire length of Pakistan. The Indus provides most of the canal water to irrigate our agricultural lands before it flows into the Arabian sea. Most of the country’s largest cities are also located within a few dozen kilometers of the Indus. The mighty Indus is thus rightly described as a lifeline for Pakistan.

Climate change-induced glacial melt is now posing an existential threat to the Indus. Alongside alarming levels of glacial retreat, glacial lake outburst floods have become increasingly common in the upper portions of the Indus. On the other hand, saline water intrusion and coastal erosion are threatening the river’s lower segment. The Indus, and its delta which provides an invaluable habitat sustaining immense biodiversity, are also under serious stress due to irresponsible water use and pollution. Despite the desperate need to conserve our precious freshwater sources, the Indus has become a dumping site for toxic industrial effluents, agricultural runoffs and plastics.

Thus, it was a welcome sign to note Pakistan announcing the Living Indus Initiative at the last climate moot in Sharm el-Sheikh in 2022 (also known as COP27). The Initiative is supposed to be an overarching collaborative effort to improve flood resilience and simultaneously restore the river basin’s ecological health.

Our government needs to attract sustained donor support as well as private sector investments to the Living Indus Initiative, estimated to cost $17 billion. Such a sizeable budget is needed to clean up contaminants from the river, and to put in place measures to avert future pollution. Affiliated projects also include creation of urban forests and community ponds as well as promoting ecotourism, enabling climate-resilient agriculture and putting in place green infrastructure to better withstand flood damage.

The PTI government had been hoping to get some debt relief by demonstrating its intention to protect sensitive ecosystems and biodiversity. Besides debt-for-nature swaps, the former PTI adviser on climate change had also announced plans to launch nature performance bonds to generate needed funds. The Living Indus Initiative seems like a prime candidate for debt relief and for generating eco-friendly funding.

It is reassuring that multilateral agencies like the UN system have at least endorsed this initiative. The PDM coalition government had also signed an agreement with China’s Changjiang Water Resources Commission to get support on water conservation, flood control, drought relief and ecological protection. This agreement was said to be aligned with the objectives of the Living Indus Initiative as well.

Pakistan can benefit from Chinese support and learn from its experiences of trying to improve water quality and mitigate floods in the Yangtze River basin, for instance. Yet, China itself has a less than enviable water management record. According to recent estimates, the water in around 70% of rivers and lakes across China is unsafe for human use. While China has recently begun paying more attention to environmental problems at home, it has been criticised for exporting obsolete and even environmentally harmful technologies (such as coal fired energy plants) via the BRI. Chinese firms have also been making investments in contentious ventures such as the creation of a 46km riverfront on the Ravi, which is a tributary of the Indus. Despite being touted as an eco-friendly solution to contend with the unchecked urban sprawl of Lahore, environmentalists fear that encroaching on the natural floodplains of the Ravi to build high-rises and urban centres could spell disaster in case of major flooding, besides causing major ecological damage. Mass evictions of households who have been farming the Ravi floodplains for generations have also been reported.

One hopes the broader Living Indus Initiative will also not fall prey to myopic and short-term commercial compulsions which could severely undermine its very rationale of not only protecting the Indus river-system, but also safeguarding the biodiversity and local populations which are also dependent on it.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2023.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.