"Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Society Pakistan & World Affairs
1

I thought Uncle Musharraf said that there was 35 million acres per feet “wastage” of water in the Indus? Gosh, could he be wrong? How can there be wastage when nothing is flowing down Kotri?

He is either lying or is misled by his anti Sindh advisors. All honest Pakistanis should stand with Sindh in opposing the destruction of Sindh through wrong policies and development projects. The real solution lies in tackling salinity, water logging and seepage not building more dams to block water to Sindh. I know that is not as sexy as blowing up a side of a mountain during Basha Dam inauguration, but it is the right thing to do for Sindh and Pakistan.

All from today’s Dawn

http://www.dawn.com/2006/05/01/nat18.htm
Thatta faces water shortage

THATTA, April 30: An acute water shortage is causing severe hardships to people and damaging crops in the district. After the closure of the KB feeder from Keenjhar Lake for two months, all its branches have dried up.

As a result, Thatta and Mirpur Sakro talukas are without water.

In Sujawal taluka, all canals are closed and there is no water for drinking and irrigation. People have been forced to fetch water from hand-pumps and wells.

At several places, hand-pumps have also gone dry.

In Thatta and Makli towns, there is no water supply for one week and residents are getting water through donkey-carts and pitchers at exorbitant rates.

In Mirpur Sakro, the main Sakro branch is closed and all its branches have gone dry.

Farmers complained that their crops, including sugarcane and vegetables, have been destroyed due to non-availability of water.—APP

http://www.dawn.com/2006/05/01/nat15.htm
50pc water shortfall at Sindh’s barrages

By Shamim Shamsi

SUKKUR, April 30: More than 50 per cent water shortage is being experienced at Guddu, Sukkur and Kotri barrages of Sindh. Sources in the Sindh irrigation department said that if the shortage persisted, it would have disastrous affect on the Kharif crops of cotton, rice and sugarcane.

They said that there was 50 per cent less water despite the fact that six canals which take water from Guddu and Sukkur had been closed.

They said the situation would get worse when these canals would be reopened in the first week of May.

They said that the shortage would ease somewhat in a couple of days when 55,000 cusecs water would be released from the Chasma barrage on April 28.

They said that upstream and downstream water at Guddu remain at 27,900 cusecs and at Sukkur upstream was 25,900 cusecs and downstream was 5,000 cusecs.

While at Kotri upstream it was 2,800 cusecs.

No water is being released below Kotri.

They said that four canals which require 31,000 cusecs water were taking 20,900 cusecs from Sukkur, 10,000 cusecs less.

The situation may worsen after the three canals which take water from Guddu are reopened in a couple of days.

At present, the three canals are closed due to annual closure while canals of the Taunsa barrage are also closed due to repair work.

When they are reopened it will create serious shortage of water at Sukkur.

PROTEST: Scores of people belonging to different localities of the city held demonstration and a sit-in on the Sukkur-Shikarpur Road on Sunday in protest against scarcity of drinking water.

Residents of Madina Colony, Allahabad colony, Islam colony, Agha Badaruddin colony, Pathan colony and other areas chanted slogans against district and taluka governments.

They said that the district and taluka administrations had failed to supply drinking water to them.

Ghulam Mohammad Ruk and Imam Bux Dahar said that their localities had been without water since ten days.

As if it was not enough the drainage system too had collapsed making it even more unbearable for people to carry on with their daily lives, they said.

They warned they would stage a sit-in outside the DCO offices if their demands were not met within 24 hours.

http://www.dawn.com/2006/05/01/nat16.htm
Farmers call for release of water into Badin canals

By Mohammad Hashim Bhurgari

BADIN, April 30: Farmers of Badin have called for immediate measures to end water shortage and to save coastal people from famine. Speaking at a press conference on Saturday, the growers of Suni Guni area, Lal Mohammad Chandio, Dr Alamuddin, Darya Khan Chandio and many others threatened to observe hunger strikes and besiege the irrigation offices on May 2, if water was not released in their minor and other water channels of the district.

The growers complained that acute water shortage persisted in all the waterways of the district for three months which was causing irreparable losses to them.

They accused irrigation officials of non-judicious distribution of water which has created resentment among the growers. They claimed that all the crops cultivated on thousands of acres in the coastal areas of the district had destroyed due to shortage of irrigation water. They alleged that influential landlords of Raj Wah and other canals were getting water more than their share with the connivance of irrigation officials.

They said that as a result of water shortage, a large number of people belonging to the coastal belt have migrated to other places. The growers staged a protest sit-in outside the local press club for more than two hours. Speaking on the occasion, they said that lives of people of the area were being destroyed through what they termed an artificial socio-economic crisis.

2

Re: “Wastage” of water in the Indus?

Is it any wonder Jeay Sindh feels the way it does when you look at Islamabad’s policies on Sindh?

http://www.dawn.com/2006/05/01/nat17.htm
Dams on Indus River opposed

Dawn Report

HYDERABAD, April 30: Activists of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz and Jeay Sindh Students Federation held demonstrations in various districts of Sindh in protest against the inauguration of the Diamer-Bhasha dam, the proposed construction of Kalabagh dam and detention of party leader Dr Safdar Sarki.

In Hyderabad, activists of the JSQM and JSSF staged a protest sit-in on the press club road.

The club road remained blocked for over one hour.

Speaking on the occasion, JSSF secretary general Nisar Lakhair said that the Indus River was the property of the people of Sindh and they alone had an exclusive right over its waters.

They said that the construction of Bhasha dam or any other dam would destroy the agrarian economy of Sindh. They said that water was a matter of life and death for the people of Sindh and they would continue struggle against all dams.

DADU: Activists of the JSQM and JSSF staged a protest demonstration in Mehar town on Sunday in protest against the construction of Bhasha dam and other dams on the Indus River.

JSQM vice-president Dr Niaz Kalani led the protesters.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Kalani said that the JSQM would continue protest against the construction of dams on the Indus River.

He said that law-enforcement agencies were torturing JSQM general secretary Safdar Sarki but his arrest was not made known. He appealed to Sindhis to continue their support against the construction of all dams on the Indus.

MIRPURKHAS: Activists of the Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz observed a token hunger strike outside the press club here on Sunday to protest the arrest of party secretary, Dr Safdar Sarki and construction of Kalabagh and Bhasha dams.

District president of the party, Qaisar Khan Mari, Zeeshan Leghari, Noor Mohammed Bunglani and Ali Hassan Chandio demanded that party leader Dr Safdar Sarki be immediately released.

3

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Musharraf show how little he know about hydrology when he says the water flowing to the se thru Indus is wasted. If you reduce Indus water flow by an excessive irrigation draw it will allow the Arabian Sea to encroach ferociously into Sindh and salinate millions of acres of productive land. Ask any hydrologist.

4

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Musharraf only knows what is told to him by the chaudries. If they say that all water Sindh gets is wasted, he will believe them. Already, sindh has lost millions of acres of arable land due to sea intrusion and salinity (one estimate is 30,000 hectors of land lost each year). Sindh's agriculture is slowly being killed of and Punjab's dam and canal building spree is a major reason for this. Mangrove forests are going extinct, land is being lost and fertile land has turned barren.

All this is happening yet the pro Punjab lobby has the nerve to question the patriotism of Sindh when Sindh cries against this injustice. Sindh and its people created Pakistan yet it is treated as a colony. Where is antiobl, Silly Billy, Pakpatriot etc.?

Shame on all those who have lived on Sindh's soil yet abandon it now in its hour of need.

5

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Yaar I heard Musharrafs speech the guys at bhansa were happy with him there and then he was also saying that the people who are suffering during the project will be compensated with i dont know how many lakhs of money, and housing. He said that dams arent the only thing he is doing, drip irrigation and etc are also going to be implemented and then he said this would solve the water problem because water is being wasted by flowing out into rivers which can be stopped by dams and then used as water reservoir and for the extremely important electricity that the growing idustry will require and the will also allow us to reduce our production costs due to cheaper electricity and allow us to export and correct BOP. And then dams cant be all that bad, so many countries build them, either the whole world is wrong or sindh is wrong.

Musharraf, the ver next day, was giving speech to aid NWFP areas so he isnt as pro punjabi as you think and then there was this billion + ruppees project for balochis. Everybody gets a fair share of the loot, no whining.

Im a patriotic pakistani and there has to be some solution to our water problem if it isnt dam then what is it?? Why do you blame musharraf? Was Nawaz Shareif better??? He was more interested in growing hair on his head than growing crops in sindh or was bhutto really trying to solve the water problem??? Atleast musharraf isnt sitting idle. Don't start with punjabi bashing, it really messes up your arguement. Is the problem water, crops or evil punjabi???

Wa u do in Anger?
6

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Pakap, thanks for the response. It's better than the silence before. But let me tell you that his line about water being wasted is a lie. The articles above should be proof enough. And electricity can be created without needing to store water through a run of the river type dam.

Countries used to build large storage dams, but now most are building smaller, non storage dams (except authoritarian countries like China). And in any case, each river situation is different and I have already pointed out the problem Sindh is facing due to lack of water downstream.

The solution to water problem in Pakistan lies in more efficient distribution of water through the irrigation system. Right now 68 million acres per feet (MAF) of water are wasted per year in the system due to inefficiency (water seepage, water logging etc.) as opposed to a measly 4.7 MAF storage for irrigation from proposed Kalabagh Dam. There also needs to be a new water sharing agreement between the federating units by an impartial body that cannot be pressurized by any province.

Neiwther Nawaz, Bhutto, or Musharraf care for anything but their power. As you say you are a patriotic Pakistani, so it is your duty to oppose all large storage dams on the Indus, as they will destroy Sindh, Pakistan's agriculture.

7

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Some points written by a former member of IRSA. They apply to Kalabagh, but some of them also apply to Basha.

President Gen. Pervez Musharraf, in his recent address to a public meeting in Noshehra, NWFP Province, said that in order to meet water shortage we are going to construct Kala Bagh Dam and Bhasha Dam, but first we have to construct KBD. Rejecting concerns of NWFP and Sindh, Musharraf said, Dam is not going to have any negative effects on Sindh and NWFP. ‘It is a wrong impression to think that construction of the dam will damage Noshehra district of NWFP’ he insisted.

Earlier on 3rd March 2005, Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz, approving five-year development plan in the National Economic Council meeting, allocated Rs 360 billion for constructing Bhasha and other dams in the country.

On the other hand, opponents of Dam are leading protest marches in Sindh, PONM, an alliance of nationalist parties of Pakistan, is holding public meetings while Awami Tahreek has stared month-long protest march from Sukkur to Karachi.

Here I would like to comment on some of the issues and points raised by Gen. Musharraf, in his Noshehra speech at Public Meeting.

Musharraf claims

1 Sindh will not suffer any loss due to the construction of Kala Bagh Dam

I do not understand what ‘damage and loss’ means to our president, here are some of the points that Sindh has been saying for years against Kala Bagh Dam.

  • Due the natural change of the course of river, there is no additional/surplus water in the Indus River to fill the dam, it is insane to suggest that Rs. 300 billion costing dam will be kept empty if there is no water.

  • If the dam is to be filled during the water-shortage time, then whose share will be curtailed and reduced, obviously of Sindh Province.

  • Dam is to store 6.1 Million Acre Feet (MAF) water, where as its discharge through canals shall be 8 MAF, that means outflow will be higher than inflow, how come Sindh is going to get any water from this dam?

  • Water storage in the dam will reduce flow of water in Indus, this reduction in flow, will deprive around 0.5 Million acres of land in Kacha area (land on both banks of river) will no more be irrigated, as the sole source of irrigation of this land is sufficient flow of the river (ideally floods). It must be noted that Kacha land is best for cultivation that give higher yield as compare to other lands, most of that is under water-logging and salinity.

  • Mangroves are best protection defence wall against sea-intrusion, which is also major source of food for livestock and forest species. With reduced flow of water, around 0.3 million acres of land is to be affected.

  • Seafood, such as prawns and fish, will be greatly reduced due to reduced inflow into the sea.

  • Reduced river water inflow in the delta region will severely damage the lives of delta community, their means of survival, such as the livestock and even sweet drinking water.

  • About 0.3 million forest in Kacha area are to affected

  • With reduced water-inflow in down stream Kotri to coastal area, sea is rapidly encroaching towards inland, already over 1.2 million acres of land is completely under sea, with dam at upstream sea is likely to increase its intrusion.

  • Once the dam is constructed, normal flow in the river will be low, reducing its banks, and incase of flood losses will be beyond control.

  • Reduced water flow in the river will negatively affect under-ground water level, consequently less cultivation on the tube wells and water pumping machines.

2 Construction of the Kala Bagh Dam is not going to make NWFP suffer losses

Contrary to the president’s assertion, NWFP will have to face these problems:

  • Noshehra district will drown in water

  • Irrigated lands will get affected with salinity and will turn into barren, especially of the districts that are nearer to dam’s site.

  • It will be hard to continue Mardan Scarpe

  • A huge number of the people are to be displaced from areas nearer to the dam

Are these not the damages and losses which the Sindh and Frontier will suffer?

  1. Of negative affects on Punjab of dam!

Punjab is so restless to construct the dam that its provincial assembly passed resolution favoring the construction of the dam.

President Musharraf, during his visit and pubic meeting in Sialkot, told to the people that very soon he would tell people good news of constructing Kala Bagh Dam.

  • According to the Pakistan’s constitution, Punjab will get royalty from the electricity generation from this dam.

  • On the left side of the bank, a canal is proposed to be constructed to irrigate estimated (2,87,310 acres of land) two lacks eighty seven thousand and three hundred ten acres of land. That canal will supply irrigation water on the upper side of Rasool Barrage, and northern areas of Punjab will get water from Indus River.

  • All the construction contracts are most likely to go to residents of Punjab province, large-scale employment generation will also benefit to local people of Punjab.

  • After the completion of the dam, official staff would be required to run the project, naturally all these jobs will go to the people of Punjab.

  • Dams are like lakes, which are good source of fishing that benefit too will go to Punjab.

Despite all these benefits that the construction of the dam will give to people of Punjab, it is very strange to hear from General Pervez Musharraf that Punjab will suffer losses from the construction of the dam, or may be we are unable to understand ‘the losses’ to be suffered by Punjab!

The writer, Idris Rajput, is former Provincial Secretary Irrigation, Government of Sindh, and Member of IRSA from Sindh Province.

8

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?


what the hell,u have a Pm whos from Karachi,and a prez whos also mohajir,and u still blame punjabis for it.Grow up,u sound like a 8 yr old who just blames other.btw,the chaudhries dont control mushy,its the other way around,they were just corrupt enough to take up the lowest position,bikao maal.

So the construction of this dam will help employ punjabis?DUDE,IF U CAN COME DOWN there everyday with ur homies,u can have my spade too u know,dont talk out of ur a$$

I have enough environmental and biological background to know that this project is not the smartest thing to do right now,but im merely annoyed at ur attemtp to change it into an ethnic issue,do u really think average punjabi has any say in wat the govt. does? the ppl u see on speeches are mostly illiterate,mushy says "app ameer ho jayein gaye" and they clap,they dono shyt.btw,if we are going to continue to reproduce like rabbits,this is whats going to happen.

9

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Won't you guys learn from the mistakes of your hamsaya mulk? A study is out on Bhakra-Nangal dam that attributes severe salination caused by this dam due to reduced water flow. Pakistan is condemned to make the same mistakes India did.

10

Re: “Wastage” of water in the Indus?

Babu bhai, you are not trying to understand the real issue here. It doesn’t matter where the PM and the real PM (Pervez Musharaf) is from. What matters are their policies with respect to the smaller provinces, especially Sindh and Balochistan. Sindhi farm lands are becoming barren due to lack of water, while Punjabi deserts are becoming farmable lands due to water diversion by Thal and other canals. This is the reality of Pakistan where Sindh’s share of water and revenue is being sacrificed at the alter of Punjabi nationalism disguised as Pakistani nationalism. Yes, I know Musharraf is not Punjabi but he has bought into the Punjabi viewpoint on Kalabagh dam, water sharing, revenue distribution, and provincial autonomy, so what does that make him? Only Punjab supports Kalabagh dam and Islamabad still supports this idea. What does that tell you about the status of the Pakistani federation?

And it’s not about employing Punjabis, as it is about the irreparable damage being done to Sindh’s agro-economy. Punjabis leaders are at fault for this attitude of hatred and distrust towards others. It is the job of average Punjabis to oppose the ethnic hatred emanating from Islamabad and Lahore.

And I posted this article on May 1st, but even now there has been no proper response from any of the pro Punjab gang about Musharraf’s lies.

11

Re: "Wastage" of water in the Indus?

Kehkashan, who is gonna take you seriously when you bash EVERYTHING related to Punjab and punjabis???? Your whole life seems to revolve around Punjabis, you don't realize that an average Punjabi has nothing to do with all this, i do NOT agree that this Kalabagh dam (or any other such project) should be built if majority of people are against it and almost all the punjabi friends i have spoken with have similar point of view.

Are you even serious when you say Chouhdaries are influencing Musharraf and Aziz to make such decisions?? Musharraf needed these chouhdaries to stay in power otherwise they would be outside Pakistan or rotting in jail by now. What i mean to say is that Mushharaf abd Aziz (two Mohajirs) have enough power (may not be 100%) right now to make any kind of decisions on their own.
Since Musharraf and Shaukat Aziz are both Mohajirs, can we now say that Mohajirs are acting against Sindhis interests and they are anti-sindh?????
Now don't tell me they are both 10 years old with no power at all.