KARACHI, Jan 19: A national conference on the Indus delta held here on Monday urged the government to constitute an Indus delta rehabilitation and revival commission and allocate resources for the revival of all forms of life that had been damaged and provide an alternative livelihood to all communities affected by the existing inequitable water distribution system and consequently deprived of their means of living.

Earlier, speakers representing civil society, non-governmental organisations, water experts, researchers, environmentalists and representatives of the fishermen community expressed concern over the degradation of the delta which, they argued, had a multi-dimensional effect on the people, language, ecology, biodiversity, and the region’s overall environment because of reduction in fresh water flows and fertile silt.

They said sea intrusion had inundated more than 2.2 million acres of farmland in Thatta and Badin districts, adding that the resulting degradation manifested itself in the reduction of mangrove coverage (an important fish habitat), declining fish stocks, including extinction of Palla fish, shrinking agricultural land and vegetation, vertical and horizontal intrusion of the sea, degraded groundwater, and a significant reduction in livestock’s grazing areas.

Arguing that the Indus delta region had been placed under a major strain since the Indus flows had been reduced, they said it was badly affecting the down Kotri releases.

They said it was regrettable that “the decision-makers consider releases from the Kotri Barrage and through the delta into the Arabian sea as a wastage while devising their plans”.

Consequently, they maintained, a massive devastation had been caused to mangrove forests, which were steadily depleting, leaving the region vulnerable to a greater damage from stormwater flooding. Thousands of people who survived on Indus water had migrated from the area, they said.

The conference, titled “Release of water to downstream Kotri”, was organised by the Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum. The first technical session was addressed by economist Kaiser Bengali, water expert Qazi Abdul Majeed, A.N.G Abassi, representatives of the IUCN, Dr Ghulam Akbar (WWF), Paul Fanning (FAO) and community leader Ghulab Shah. MNA Marvi Memon was the chief speaker.

In his analytical presentation, Mr Bengali gave the historical background of the decrease of water flow from the Indus during the past 10 years. He attributed it to the engineering-intensive and high-cost maintenance water projects launched by the planners without considering their negative impact on the overall situation in the future.

Mr Bengali called for adopting a sustainable and better water management policy and preparing low-cost projects instead of mega projects, which were not maintainable.

Community leader Ghulab Shah painted a grim picture of the Indus region, saying that owing to poverty thousands of people had been compelled to migrate to other parts of the province in search of bread and butter.

Several speakers complained that Sindh was not receiving its due share of water according to the Indus water treaty and called for urgent steps to remedy the situation.

The conference also adopted a declaration, saying that water was a fundamental element of life on the land and thus access to water was a human right that must be protected equally for all people, in all places and at all times. As such, water should not be treated as a commodity for trade, control and sale, but as a resource belonging to the people who depended on it for their lives.

Maintaining that water was vital for life and was a basic necessity for human survival, it called for recognising it as a top priority, universal and human right. Thus the sustainability of the biosphere and the exercise of human rights must be guaranteed on the basis of the principle of efficacy.

The declaration also called for adopting an integrated new water paradigm approach in the Indus water basin by recognising the people’s fundamental human right to water and an equitable distribution of water rights for the people living along the reaches of the Indus River, especially for communities located in the lower Indus delta. This should be established as the foundation of any water-management planning.

Considering the dire environmental conditions facing the Indus delta eco-region and their negative impact on the communities’ livelihood, the conference urged that all plans, constructions and policies should ensure significant and adequate flow of water through the Indus delta.

It also stressed the need for recognising the restoration of rivers, deltas, springs, estuaries, lakes, coastal waters and protection of wetlands and aquifers as a heritage of the biosphere, including its values of collective identity, aesthetic beauty and quality of life posing a significant challenge.

The participants of the conference also declared that they would bring the issue to the notice of all stakeholders, including the government, to make them realise that the flow of water downstream Kotri was not a waste but an exigent need through resurfacing the concocted perception and inhuman stance and statements of so-called managers over the water distribution and management.

Later, the political session of the conference was addressed by Karamat Ali, director of PILER, Mohammad Khan Memon (Irsa), MPA Humera Alwani and others.

In her concluding remarks, Marvi Memon, chairperson of the National Assembly subcommittee on the environment, observed that the delta issue was not a regional issue, it was a national issue and as such it should be looked at in that perspective.

She said the NA subcommittee had taken up the issues considering its national importance as it would affect people of all regions. She said she hoped that the NA panel would come out with a solution.

She promised that the recommendations made by the conference would be considered seriously and would be implemented in a national spirit.

Earlier, PFF chairman Mohammad Ali Shah welcomed the participants and explained the theme of the conference.