World Water Day Celebration At Thatta, Sindh

Report by Bharumal Amrani (An activist and journalist,can be reached at bharu12345@yahoo.com)

THATT, March 25. More than 600 persons, including male and female, thronged on the roads of Thatta to raise their voice before national and international community, on the eve of world water day, to seek their help to save Indus delta, release water at Kotri downstream, ensure provision of their water share, water the only source of their socio-economic development and life, under the aegis of Society for the Conservation and Protection of Environment Thatta and Fresh Water Action Network South Asia  here on Friday.

Rally led by renowned environmentalist Tanveer Arif, Mahjabeen Khan and Shafi Jatt carrying banners and placards marched at various thoroughfares and raised full throated slogans, “give us water, save Indus delta”, “release downstream water”, “and rehabilitate flood affected families”.

 Environmentalist and intellectual Bharumal Amrani said that Indus Delta is 356 KM long. It stretches over an area of 600,000 hectares between Karachi and south-western border of India. It before falling in the sea is divided into channels and forming a triangular shape which is called delta. It is created when rivers carry water along with silt which is deposited at the transition belt of river and sea. When this practice is continued for centuries it develops delta. He added that the water shed area of Indus River is about ten lac square kilometers. When huge silt carried by rivers flowed into sea and some part was deposited in the river, it increased delta. It used to carry about 40 crore tons silt annually. It is consisted of creeks, extensive mud flats, sand dunes, salt marshes and salsola foetida (lani), tamarix dioca (lai), mangroves and other flora and fauna. He urged the authorities to take appropriate measures for rehabilitation of flora and fauna damaged and disturbed during recent floods.

Speaking on the occasion Taveer Arif of SCOPE said that Sindh is not being given its due share of water, and water is not released at Kotri downstream, resultantly Indus delta and mangroves have reached at the verge of extinction. Survival of lacs of people, flora and fauna is linked with the flowing River Indus. He added that it is the reason that country is facing flood, cyclone, tsunami, which is causing displacement of lacs of people, and other disasters. He said that due to climate change we can not stop these disasters, but we can minimize its damages by rehabilitating Indus delta, which is the only source of socio-economic development of people of Sindh specially living in the tail of river Indus. He called upon authorities to expedite the pace of work on the repair of dykes and no substandard work on dykes will be tolerated, because it is matter of lives and properties of people he warned.

Tasleem said that according to IUCN report 1994, about 70 years ago Indus delta was receiving 847 MAF of fresh water per year, which carries huge quantity of slit later it decreased to 150 MAF per year and carrying 400 million tones of slit with it and now it further decreased to 35.2 MAF.

Shazia Soomro said that Indus delta receives highest wave energy during south west monsoon. In past high power discharge of Indus river water faced highest wave energy which is now reduced and the wave energy is causing severe erosion in some areas of Indus delta, she added that pollution in the marine environment affects the growth pattern of mangrove only in district Thatta due to devastating flood in the River Indus.

Approximately 0.7 million people of Taluka Sijawal, Bahtoro, Jati, Shahbandr, Ghora Bari and Thatta itself were affected seriously.About 0.2 million flood-hit people were shifted to historical graveyard Makli she added.