Standing still

Text and photos by Amar Guriro

No one can feel the pain of a fisherman who realises that the vast wetland or natural lake that had served as the only source of livelihood for him and his forefathers will soon be no more.

The pain was evident in the eyes of Ghulam Nabi Mallah, who was sitting in his Batilo, a small traditional wooden boat and idly playing with the wooden oars. The resounding silence of the 18-year-old, who has aged much more than his age due to the contaminated water he and the area residents have to rely on for survival, speaks volume about their desperation.

Mallah’s small boat was anchored on the edge of the vast and unique wetland of the province, the Kalankar or Kalangar Lake. According to the locals, the lake is spread over seven different zones, which comes to around 20 km. The lake is situated in the matchless White Desert or Achhro Thar in district Umerkot (formerly known as Amarkot district).

The beauty of the desert even took us by surprise. When we set off from the historical town of Dhoronaro, the image in our minds was that of a small, simple lake with a few small boats anchored. However, all the fatigue of the hour-long drive through the desert went out the window as we reached Goth Bachal Mallah and right after crossing the small village, the wonderland.

The vast body of blue water between the sand dunes and the resultant cool breeze were shocking to say the least. The water was calm and the area was wrapped in a mysterious silence, as if mourning the worsening situation. Dispersed all around the lake were small villages with traditional Thari huts, locally known as Chawanra.

Achhro Thar or White Desert is Pakistan’s strangest desert and is spread along the eastern boundaries of Sindh, along with the Indian border. There are several wetlands throughout the desert, most of which remain undiscovered.

The known ones include the Bakaar, located near Khipro district of Sanghar and commonly known as Khipro lakes, and the lakes in district Umerkot, which include the Kalankar, Seeroi, Burthi, Bodarr, Daisaen, Paalaaro, Modakar and several other small lakes.

Out of these, several have the potential to be protected under the Ramsar Convention.
However, nothing is being done at the official level, with the lake not even having been studied in detail. These wetlands have the potential of being wonderful tourist spots or game sanctuaries but the concerned authorities seem oblivious.

“The lake has become, more or less, useless, as there are no fish remaining and without fish, any water body for us is dead,” said Mallah. He lives in a small nearby village that was home to about 200 fishing families in the past but most of the residents have moved to other places as the water contamination levels surged.

The reason for this contamination is the fact that fresh water has not been introduced in the lake over the past ten years. Although, the Sindh Irrigation Department had established a minor canal from the Nara Canal to supply fresh water to the lake, over the past decade, some influential landlords and political personalities, a few of whom even belonged to the ruling Pakistan People’s Party, have been siphoning the water for their own land.

“This lake was our source of drinking water but, now, due to the lack of freshwater, the water has become so stagnant that even the fish are unable to survive,” said an elderly fisherman, Khano.

The federal government is celebrating the current year as the national year of environment but it seems that it is merely a media campaign, as no practical steps are being taken.

Quoting official data, Ideal Rural Development Program (IRDP) Secretary Imtiaz Laghari said that due to the rampant environmental degradation, the environment debt has risen to Rs 1 billion per day, which comes to Rs 365 billion per year.
He said these wetlands have long remained undiscovered, even at the government level, and called for a detailed official survey to be carried out as soon as possible.

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Small Grants Program National Coordinator Masood Ahmed Lohar said that Pakistan is a signatory of different international conventions including United Nations Conventions to Combat Desertification (UNCCD), biodiversity conservation convention and climate change and eco-region preservation conventions, therefore, it needs to realise that the maintenance of these wetlands is essential for the conservation of the entire eco-region.

The wetlands are not only important for the general ecology but several traditional ritual and social norms of the indigenous fishermen are also entirely dependent on these water bodies. In the past, the fishermen of the area arranged annual melas, where special markets were set up providing toys for children, cosmetics for fisherwomen and fishing tools for men, along with special folk music shows.

These melas provided a chance of recreation to the entire community but since the stagnation of the water and the resultant decrease in fish catch, even such social gatherings have become a distant prospect.

Friday, February 06, 2009
Daily Times

RBOD started despite objections

Text and Photo by Amar Guriro

The Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has continued development work on the ongoing mega project, Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) Phase-III, without solving the technical objections raised by different stakeholders.

According to experts, the project will adversely affect the biggest water reserve for Karachi that provides potable water supply to the city and many areas of Thatta district.

In 2002, during the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) public hearing, experts of the Sindh Wildlife Department objected that the construction of the RBOD. They said it would destroy the general ecology of the province especially its wetlands and fresh water lakes. These lakes including the Hammal Lake in the Larkana district and Manchar Lake in the Dadu district are important wetlands.

They stated that during phase-III, the project would badly affect another freshwater lake, Haleji Lake, a protected game sanctuary and a Ramsar site.

During the visit of Haleji Lake, this scribe found heavy machinery, excavators and cranes digging the ground just 100 meters away from the embankments of the lake. The area is officially declared as a buffer zone and is also protected under the wildlife ordinance. The rules and regulations of the wildlife department reveal that a distance of around one kilometer from the embankments of the Haleji Lake, which spreads over an area of 6.59 square miles, is supposed to be a buffer zone.

Since the lake has been declared a Ramsar site, no construction can be done on the lake or in the buffer zone.

It is pertinent to mention here that after signing the Ramsar Convention, the Pakistani government became bound to protect the lake and also the buffer zones, however, these rules are not being followed and remain only documents.

Since 1995, the Sindh Irrigation Department stopped providing water to the lake, which has badly affected the lake and its buffer zones. “Since the supply of fresh water from River Indus has stopped, there is no water in the buffer zones; this has badly affected the ecology and also the fishermen of the area who earn their livelihood from the ponds in the buffer zones,” said Sindh Wildlife Conservator Hussain Bux Bhaagat.

During the visit of the area the local fishermen told this scribe that in the past, there used to be a thick forest in the buffer zone area of the lake. “The officials of the Sindh Forest Department have chopped down thousands of trees converting the area into barren land,” said Siddique Mallah.

RBOD is mega project costing around Rs 29.274 billion that will drain out the agricultural effluents into the Arabian Sea from the districts of Sindh located on the right side of the River Indus. The construction of phase-III of the RBOD is posing serious threats for the survival of the lake.

“The level of the RBOD is about 300 meters below the level of the lake; this means that along with agriculture effluents, lake water will also run into the RBOD,” said Bhaagat.

The Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) was constructed to drain the effluent from the districts on the left side of the river. WAPDA has yet to collect the loss to the human population, livestock, wildlife, wetlands and wildlife game sanctuaries that were badly affected by the LBOD in the past.

“We believe that in the future, when RBOD will start working, it will not only suck the lake water by the seepage but when it will have a massive supply of effluents, some of these effluents will in turn seep into the lake, resulting in another disaster. Thus, we asked WAPDA to redesign the project so it may not affect the lake,” stated Bhaagat.

WAPDA’s official record reveals that RBOD phase-III starts from Sehwan in the Dadu district; it runs a distance of around 273 kilometres and then reaches Gharo in the Thatta district.

“We criticise the construction of the RBOD within such a close proximity of Ramsar sites and it is very strange how WAPDA has given NOCs despite the fact that the construction of drains is prohibited within wildlife sanctuaries as per the Sindh Wildlife Act of 1972,” said National Assembly Sub-Committee on Environment Convener Marvi Memon. She added that WAPDA has also not acquired a NOC from the Sindh Environmental Protection Agency for the project, violating the environmental laws.

“We have compiled a detailed report on the violations of the environmental laws in the constructions of this project and have also given detailed recommendations on how WAPDA can reduce the environmental concerns,” stated Memon.
Monday, April 13, 2009
Daily Times