Seawater intrusion displaces fishing community

For fishermen living alongside the coast of Sindh, the ups and downs of life are contingent upon the quality and quantity of river water flowing into their area. In recent times, however, the flow of the Indus towards these areas has significantly reduced, thereby allowing seawater to seep in and destroy the lands and livelihoods of fishing families.

Yasmeen Shah, Central Leader of the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum, revealed that the erosion of land in the coastal areas of Sindh was first reported in 1950. "So far about 3.5 million acres of land has already been lost to the sea. The fishing community has suffered the most since their villages were washed away by the sea, due to which thousands of families had to migrate from their areas. Most of these families migrated to Karachi and other cities in search of employment," revealed Shah.

"Due to the policies of the Sindh government, the contract system in the fisheries sector has been strengthened, which has severely affected the employment of poor fishermen. On the other hand, no arrangement of social security has been made for the fishermen at the government level," added Shah. Referring to the new fisheries policy of the federal government, Shah opined that it would further threaten the employment of fishermen by protecting the interests of big companies seeking to thrive in the fisheries sector.

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According to Naseer Memon, an expert on disaster management and resettlement, before the construction of the Tarbela Dam, about 300,000 cusecs of water used to reach the kutcha area of Sindh every year, an amount which reached 500,000 cusecs every three to four years.

"Some experts believe that in 2022, a large amount of water flowed down from the Kotri Barrage into the sea, which could have been saved by building a dam on the Indus River. Although that water was not river water, a large amount of it had accumulated in the lower areas of Sindh due to the breakdown of Manchar Lake. At least 12-million-acre feet of water is required for the existing water storage projects, including Bhasha Dam, Mohmand Dam, Kachchi Canal, Raini Canal," noted Memon.

Memon further informed that after the Kotri barrage, the Indus river has to travel 300 miles to reach the sea. "On the route of the river there are three districts of Sindh, Thatta, Sajawal and Badin, which are home to two million people. Do they not need water? In such a situation, the construction of new canals would mean depriving millions of people living in lower Sindh of drinking water," emphasized Memon.

"Global experts claim that at least 5,000 cusecs of water are needed daily or 25-million-acre feet in five years under Kotri to save the Indus Delta ecosystem. However, apart from the monsoon months, this amount of water never passes below Kotri, due to which there is continuous sea intrusion. As a result, 5 00,000 hectares of fertile land in the coastal districts of the province have come under sea water," explained Memon.

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Fatima Majeed, newly elected chairperson of the Fishermen Cooperative Society for the welfare of fishermen, told The Express Tribune that the fishing community had been facing problems for a long time. "Increasing the employment opportunities of fishermen and launching their welfare projects will be our top priority. We will also try to increase the export of fish so that more employment opportunities could be provided to the fishermen," said Majeed.

The Express Tribune tried contacting Director General Fisheries Sindh Siraj Ahmed Solangi to inquire about the steps taken by the Sindh government to protect the rights of fishermen, but despite waiting for a long time, no response was received from him.