KARACHI: Woes of Thari people continue even today as they are forced to consume subsoil water contaminated with toxic waste being discharged from coal mines, pointed out speakers at a webinar held on Friday.

Titled ‘Coal-induced water woes of Tharis’ was organised by the Alliance for Climate Justice & Clean Energy (ACJCE), a coalition of think tanks and civil society organisations working on energy transition in the country.

Giving an insight into the problems being created by coal mining companies in Thar, Azhar Lashari from the Policy Research Institute for Equitable Development said mining activity in Thar was poisoning the precarious groundwater resources of the region and making lives of locals miserable.

“Percolation of toxic water from Gorano and Dukar Chaou reservoirs, lowering of water table around mining sites and dumping of wastewater in farmlands have been posing a serious threat to the ecosystem and public health,” he shared, adding that while water level of the dug up wells was depleting in some villages, sweet water of these wells surrounding the wastewater reservoirs was getting toxic.

“Cases of malarial fever and livestock casualties have significantly increased in the area” he noted.

Miseries caused by mining activity at Thar Coal project highlighted at webinar

Muhammad Abdul Rafay from the Alternative Law Collective said testimonies of Tharis revealed serious violations of environmental laws being committed by coal mining and power generation companies.

“The release of contaminated water into agricultural and grazing lands by these companies and its reinjection into underground aquifers violate the Sindh Environment Protection Act, the National Water Policy 2018 and their generation licences issued by the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority,” he explained.

Mr Rafay added the judiciary had repeatedly held such practices a violation of the constitutional right to life and a breach of public trust.

Two representatives of the Thar community also highlighted water-related difficulties they had been facing in the region. Rani Bheel, a resident of Bitra village, Block-II, complained that coal companies were releasing poisonous water openly with no regard to human life.

“This is also harming our livestock. More than 50 buffaloes and cows, 70 plus camels and over 500 goats and sheep have died after drinking the poisonous water,” she said.

Ms Bheel further said that clean water wells were becoming saline and toxic, aggravating troubles of local women who now had to fetch potable water from far-flung areas.

Sharing the harmful impact of dams built by companies in the area, Ameer Hassan, an office-bearer of the Thar Samaji Tehreek, said 20 dug-wells had become saline after Gorano dam was developed.

The local community representatives shared that more than 50 children living in the villages located close to the dam had died over the last few years, adding that mosquito-borne diseases “had spread in the area due to toxic water”.

A short documentary was also screened at the webinar, highlighting the magnitude of water-related issues in Thar.

Published in Dawn, March 26th, 2022