“Little realisation exists about the silent human crisis involving more than one million people, flora and fauna of Pakistan’s vital ecosystems,” said WWF representative, Nasir Panhwar.

KARACHI: Speakers at a programme on Wednesday called for the establishment of an Indus Delta Rehabilitation Programme and an immediate release of at least 10 million acre feet water downstream Kotri barrage until a detailed study is carried out to assess the exact quantity of water required to rehabilitate the region.

The event was organised by the World Wide Fund for Nature (WWF-Pakistan) in connection with the International Day of Action for Rivers.

While lamenting severe damage caused to the Indus delta by development policies over the years, the speakers demanded that the government ensure conservation of natural assets by bringing work on all such policies to a halt.

An effective way in this regard could be devising a rehabilitation programme for the Indus delta, they said, while calling for the establishment of an independent body to run it.

On the occasion, two position papers, prepared by WWF-Pakistan in collaboration with Friends of Indus Forum, were released.

Highlighting some important points from the paper on Manchhar Lake, Forum’s Joint Secretary Ghulam Mustafa Mirani said the lake located on the eastern foothills of the Kirthar Range was one of the largest freshwater natural lakes in Asia. Once renowned for its beauty and a large population of migratory birds and wild fowl, it was also a rich source of fisheries, he said.

It provided livelihood to more than 10,000 households of the fishing community, he said, adding that of them, 2,000 people lived on boats.

“However, today it stands as a severely threatened wetland, dying from pollution, toxic effluent and mismanagement,” observed Mr Mirani.

Remodelled MNV drain

Educating the audience about the causes of the lake’s degradation, he said that Manchhar Lake’s pollution concerns go back to 1921 when the Main Nara Valley (MNV) Drain, which was originally designed as an inundation canal, was remodelled to transport raw sewage from the towns of upper Sindh and parts of Punjab.

“The remodelled MNV drain became the only source of drainage along the right bank of the Sukkur barrage. During the implementation of the Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD) project, the MNV drain was further widened and remodelled to drain saline water pumped by tubewells of the Salinity Control and Reclamation Project and the effluent of industries in district Dadu,” he explained.

Besides, he said, construction of dams for water storage and power generation, upstream water diversions on the River Indus for agricultural and industrial use caused water shortage downstream, which in turn reduced flow of freshwater in Manchhar Lake and exacerbated the situation, he said.

“Currently Manchhar Lake waters boast high levels of toxicity and salinity, which have had a ruinous effect on the lake’s natural habitat and biodiversity.”

Citing data from recently conducted tests of water samples collected from the lake, Mr Mirani said that the salinity level had reached 4,000 parts per million (PPM) while the desirable limit was 500 PPM.

The tests, he said, also indicated that the concentration of toxic substances in Manchhar Lake was more than 8,000 PPM as opposed to the safe human consumable level of 800 PPM.

“This high toxicity level poses a serious threat to the health and well-being of Manchhar’s residents who utilise water from the lake for their household needs,” he said. Also, the environmental degradation had greatly reduced fish catch that had compelled fishermen to resort to unsustainable fishing practices.

The area lacked infrastructure for health, education, water and sanitation, he said, adding that there was a wide prevalence of malnutrition, tuberculosis, skin infections and water-borne diseases in the local population.

To rehabilitate the lake, he said, the report suggested short-, mid- and long-term measures such as regular water supply to the lake from the River Indus through a separate feeder, silt discharge, the establishment of a solid waste disposal system for the fishing community and strict enforcement of Sindh wildlife rules.

Drop in Indus water flow

Giving a presentation on the paper, Water in River Indus Downstream Kotri, Nasir Panhwar representing the WWF said that the delta, the fifth largest in the world, had undergone severe degradation because of the upstream diversions of River Indus water resulting in what could be termed as one of the worst examples of human interventions in nature.

“Little realisation exists about the silent human crisis involving more than one million people, flora and fauna of Pakistan’s vital ecosystems,” he added.

Referring to records from the 19th century, he said, they suggested that freshwater flow to the lower Indus was around 150 MAF a year. But over the past 60 years, particularly after the construction of dams, barrages and reservoirs, the freshwater flow had reduced to less than 30 MAF while silt discharge had reduced to 100 million tonnes a year from some 400 million tonnes a year in the past.

“This has inflicted heavy losses on the ecology, biodiversity, as well as livelihood resources of the Indus delta. The situation got aggravated by projects like the Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) that caused immense damage to the province’s wetlands,” he said.

A.N.G Abassi, a senior water expert, Sindh Irrigation Minister Jam Saifullah Dharejo, former vice chancellor of Sindh University Mazhar-ul-Haq Siddiqui, Karamat Ali of the Pakistan Institute of Labour Education and Research and Rab Nawaz of the WWF also spoke.