Once known for its rich agricultural base, Sindh now stands on a dry land. With water becoming a source of tension between landlord and farmers, and the latter bracing for an acute shortage every sowing season, it has led to an agricultural crisis.
As 35 per cent of water shortage is recorded year after year, both argue over their rights to the Indus. Often, it is the Sardars, Pirs, Waderas and Jagirdars who succeed in influencing and stealing the share of farmers to irrigate their own lands.
But in the eyes of the landlord, it is a cycle of revenge. The blame game starts with India being accused of building dams which allow it to manipulate the water flow as and when it wants, stealing Pakistan’s share. Subsequently, the Punjab province is accused of taking away Sindh’s share as a result of which landlords in Sindh deprive peasants, particularly during the crucial sowing season Rabi and Kharif, as they divert excess water towards their agricultural lands for irrigation, and hence, create an artificial water shortage.
According to officials in the irrigation department, water shortage mostly occurs in the Kharif season during the months of May and June and in November, December and February for Rabi. It is during these months that most of the disputes are reported among landlords and peasants.
“Earlier, we would sow an IRRI-6 variety of the paddy crop, which required more water and took 150 days to grow and yielded up to 60 maunds per acre,” farmers from Kashmore and Jacobabad told The Express Tribune. Interestingly, water-crisis in the districts led them to try a more economical option which produced better results.
“We would constantly have a dispute with the landlords when we sowed the IRRI-6 seeds because it needed more water,” said Ghulam Mohammad Khoso, one of the farmers. “But due to an acute water shortage we switched to hybrid paddy seeds three years ago, which actually proved to be a better option.”
Hybrid seeds require less water and grow in 100 to 120 days, said Khoso. “And its yield is between 80 and 120 maunds!” adds another farmer, Hafiz Mumtaz Jakhrani, with pride. Moreover, the use of hybrid varieties increased the annual paddy cultivation in the entire rice belt of upper Sindh comprising Jacobabad, Kashmore, Shikarpur, Larkana and parts of the Sukkur district.
But this does not solve the problem of other crops that do require lots of water during the sowing season.
Agricultural water theft
The irrigation system of Sindh is part of the Indus Basin irrigation system and is divided into multiple channels. Canals originating from River Indus divide into Wahs, minors, Shakhs, modules and ultimately, pipelines – in the same order.
Often, landlords and the political elite are accused of misusing their power by controlling the flow of water as they attach direct outlet pipes to canals and modules. These pipelines, say observers, have larger diametres to allow more water to flow through to irrigate hundreds of acres of their land. Although this is a clear violation of irrigation laws, there is no check on this practice nor are the landlords held accountable. “When irrigation officials visit our area and find a peasant involved in water theft, he is immediately arrested, but no one dares to question the landlords,” said Abdullah Mazari, a farmer in Jacobabad.
However, in 2006, the government had deployed Rangers across the southern province to control water theft and monitor an equal distribution of water and end the illegal practice of constructing modules and direct outlets. This yielded positive results as farmers at the tail-end of Sindh received sufficient water for their crops. But their happiness was short-lived as the Rangers were called back, leaving the peasants at the mercy of the landlords yet again.
The conflict with Punjab
According to the Indus River System Authority (Irsa), the province’s water indent starts from Chashma Barrage in Punjab, which is 190 miles away from Sindh’s first barrage – Guddu. Sources in the irrigation department disclosed that if 100,000 cusecs of water is released from Chashma for Sindh, only 75,000 to 80,000 cusecs reaches the Guddu barrage as five per cent is lost to evaporation and soaking of dried embankments, while the remaining 15 to 20 per cent is stolen by the landlords of Punjab through lift machines.
For several years now, Sindh’s peasants have demanded that Irsa brings into account Sindh’s water share from Guddu barrage instead of Chashma barrage, but their concerns have not been addressed.
“There is a long distance between Chashma and Guddu barrage, and hence, ample water is stolen from Sindh’s share even before it reaches us,” said GM Khoso, Secretary General Sindh Abadgar Board (Kashmore chapter).
However, an irrigation engineer, on condition of anonymity, told The Express Tribune that while Punjab is somewhat responsible, 40 per cent of Sindh’s water is lost owing to a poor irrigation system. “Most of the canals, wahs and minors are choked with shrubs and other sediments, which hampers the smooth flow of water. As a result, those at the tail-end are deprived of their share,” said the engineer.
Citing the example of Kirthar and Rice canals, the official explained that both are situated on the lower ground and end at comparatively higher grounds. In case of a water shortage, the water instantly flows downstream, unless a landlord forcibly lowers the gate of a regulator to prevent the water from flowing back down.
“As far as water theft in Sindh is concerned, we all know nobody can stop them. They are too powerful to mess with and make their own rules,” stresses Khoso.
Mandhal Shar, President Sindh Hari Committee, agrees. He also accuses the Sardars and Waderas in his Ghotki district for stealing water openly as authorities look the other way. A case in point is Narli minor in Ghotki where farmers have not only been facing an acute water shortage for several years, but the little they receive is also contaminated. “Most of the water flowing in Ghotki carries the industrial waste of Punjab. Our lands have turned barren by the use of this water,” said Shar.
While some farmers organise small protests by blocking roads for a few hours, in most cases, they avoid confronting the landlords fearing a backlash. But some experts fear that this water crisis may soon become a source of discontent and spiral out of control.
“It is only after irrigation authorities launch an operation against the landlords and their illegally constructed modules and pipe outlets, that a just distribution of water would be possible,” says the irrigation engineer. “But that isn’t going to happen. These landlords make up the parliament and authorities cannot afford to upset a government they’re part of.”
EDITED BY SAARYSH ZUBERI AND AROOSA MASROOR
design: samad siddiqui
Published in The Express Tribune, September 15th, 2011.
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