Relief at last: Zakat department, BISP to save Manchar Lake’s fishermen

The decision comes in wake of SC’s orders to make the lake pollution-free and assist those affected.

KARACHI:

The Sindh government’s Zakat and Ushr Department and the Benazir Income Support Programme have pledged financial assistance for the rehabilitation of Manchar Lake and the fishermen who inhabited the coastline.

The decision comes in the wake of orders passed by the Supreme Court to make the water body free from contamination and rehabilitate those affected by the lake’s deteriorating condition.

Apart from providing financial assistance to the fishermen, the provincial government has started ground work for the establishment of mobile health and educational units for the villages. The plan for the rehabilitation of what is one of South Asia’s largest freshwater lakes, includes an environmental survey to ascertain the causes behind the lake’s pollution.



“I have approved funds worth Rs3.31 million to the Jamshoro Zakat and Ushr committee’s chairperson, who submitted a list of 802 affected fishermen’s families. Our department is also adding another Rs0.7 million for the cause,” Sindh Zakat Council’s chairperson Justice (retd) Zahid Kurban Alvi, told The Express Tribune.

According to Justice Alvi, the issue would not be resolved through a one-time grant. He stressed the need for civil society, and government and non-government organisations to step up efforts to provide education and health facilities to the affected population.

Meanwhile, chief secretary Sajjad Saleem Hotiana presided over a meeting, a few days ago, to take measures in compliance with the orders of the apex court to provide relief to the poor fishermen and rehabilitate the lake spreading over 246 square kilometres.

The meeting reviewed the installation of five desalination plants to ensure the availability of potable drinking and irrigation water. These schemes have been in the making for quite some time now.  “The construction and installation of one desalination plant is in progress as a pilot project,” revealed the irrigation secretary, Babar Hussain Effendi. He added that a sum of Rs500 million had been allocated for the project while the federal government had also committed Rs1 billion for the cause.

Effendi explained that the lake was being polluted by the drainage water from the federal government-funded Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project, which had been left unfinished. Thus, the drainage water, instead of disposing into the Arabian Sea near Thatta, was being released into Manchar Lake. “The RBOD project is scheduled to be completed by December 2014. Its culmination, however, depends on the release of funds worth Rs35 billion, out of which nothing has been released so far,” he cautioned.

According to Hyderabad Commissioner Jamal Mustafa Syed, the provincial government had contacted the Benazir Income Support Programme’s chairperson seeking financial assistance for the affected families. “They have assured the provision of Rs50 million for the cause.” Before releasing the amount, however, the provincial government must submit the demographic data of the victims which will be tallied with the fisheries department and the district administration. “Around Rs1,200 will be given to each household through ATM cards,” said Syed.

On the other hand, Pakistan Fisher-Folk Forum’s vice-chairperson, Mustafa Mirani, appreciating the steps taken by the BISP and the Zakat Department, has stressed that a more permanent solution was needed to address the fishermen’s problems.

“We need a complete survey to determine the number of families that have migrated from the lake’s periphery and those that still inhabit the area,” he asserted, adding that the grant issued to 802 families was not enough.

Speaking about the RBOD projects, Mirani said, “RBOD-I is responsible for the lake’s current condition. The government had announced to build a new drain to divert the contaminated water from the lake to the Arabian Sea, but nothing has been achieved so far,” he lamented, adding that a sum of Rs35 billion had been allocated for a project which was not even sustainable.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said that the polluted water coming from Balochistan and Punjab was responsible for the contamination. He revealed he would take up the matter of the swift completion of the RBOD project in the next meeting of the Council of Common Interest.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2013.