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MITHI: Residents of Gorano and some other villages of Tharparkar on Friday expressed their deep concern over release of wastewater into the controversial reservoir being built across their lands.
Speaking to local reporters they noted that Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (which is executing the project in Block II of the Thar coal fields) had started releasing wastewater into the reservoir, locally known as Gorano dam.
Advocate Leela Ram and his associates who have been spearheading a sustained campaign against the reservoir for more than five months, said the wastewater being discharged into the reservoir would definitely be destructive to the lands belonging to the local people as it was being extracted from coal mines.
“Throwing caution to the wind, the company has resorted to releasing the mine water which is bound to destroy the arable lands and cause damage to the ecology of the entire desert region on a large scale,” said Advocate Ram.
He observed that the gushing water had already hit three acres of the land coming in the way, adding that it was being discharged at a point 35 kilometres away from the Block II site. The land belonged to the Meghwar community, he said.
The protesting villagers also noted that discharging of wastewater had been started while the construction work of the reservoir was in its initial stage.
They recalled that the firm had only a few days ago came out with an offer of conducting a fresh survey of the lands to be affected by the reservoir project, and questioned the release of water without the consent of other stakeholders.
They urged the authorities concerned to look into the “high-handedness” of the firm and stop it from going ahead with its plan before the matter was decided by the Sindh High Court.
On behalf of the company, its spokesman, Mohsin Babar, said that the activity of releasing mine water into the reservoir was not started on Friday, rather it had been continuing for the last two months.
He told Dawn it was true that the matter of reservoir construction was pending adjudication but the court had not ordered a halt to the construction work nor did it stop the firm from releasing mine water into it.
Published in Dawn, April 15th, 2017
