Let it flow: Senator promises to table bill for river protection

Scores gather at Sajan Wari jetty to commemorate International Day of Action for Rivers.

KHARO CHHAN: Scores of men, women and children assembled on Sunday at the bank where the River Indus once merged with the sea on Sunday, offering prayers for a high water flow in an area that had been known for its cultivation before desertification of thousands of acres.

Organising a two-week programme for the International Day of Action for Rivers, the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum (PFF) had arranged a session titled 'Sea Erosion and Destruction of the Delta' at the Sajan Wari jetty near Kharo Chhan.



Keeping in mind the social, economic and cultural disturbances on the Sindh coastal Belt, Senator Dr Karim Ahmed Khawaja promised to table a bill for river protection in the upper house with the help of the PFF soon.

"The damage caused by sea erosion is massive and will aggravate if concrete measures aren't taken," he asserted, adding that he would write to the Prime Minister about the situation. "The erosion is a threat to the entire province, not just the people living along the coast."

Meanwhile, PFF chairperson Muhammad Ali Shah demanded that the delta should be given its due share as it was the fifth stakeholder in the water-sharing formula.

"Hundreds of people depend on the Indus Delta for their livelihood but the increasing sea intrusion has engulfed 3.5 million acres of fertile land in this area, forcing people to migrate to safer ground," he explained. "Almost 0.8 million people have left the coastal belt as the sea erodes 100 acres on a daily basis."



Highlighting the severity of the situation, Shah said that the coastal communities of Sindh had been left to the sea's mercy. "The river has seawater instead of freshwater now," he remarked, adding that releasing water into the delta was the only way to stop the sea intrusion.

The PFF chairperson feared that the construction of more dams and other projects on the river could destroy agriculture and the irrigation system. He further asked for compensation for the communities who, having lost their fertile lands and ancestral abodes, were facing poverty.

"The local fishermen and the indigenous people are the owners of the river, the delta and the lakes," claimed Punhal Sario of the Sindh Hari Porhiyat Council. "Nobody has the right to deprive them of this right."

Abdul Rehman, an elderly resident of the area remembered better times. "There was greenery everywhere and we could stock up on food for a month," he reminisced. "All were happy. Now, desertification surrounds us, ruining our lives."

According to PFF officials, the 14-day programme will culminate at a picnic resort at alManzar, Jamshoro, on March 14, attracting hundreds of residents, environmentalists, activists and members of civil society to press for the restoration of the river's natural flow and the rightful share of water for the lakes and wetlands.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 3^rd, 2015.