Let the Indus River Flow Free, Save Sindh, its Agriculture, Indus Delta, Marine Life and Ecosystem
A Karachi University student’s reflections on Sindh-Punjab water disputes, and the agonies of Sindh being the riparian of the Indus River
Indus Delta, a region where Indus River meets the Arabian Sea, is the world’s fifth largest delta and home to the seventh-largest mangrove forest. In history when there was no dam, canal, or barrage on the Indus River, it was considered a prosperous region in the world. However, since the water war started between Sindh and Punjab, this fertile land and fragile ecosystem have been devastated due to the encroachment of the sea.
As a result, hundreds of thousands acres of land has been destroyed by the sea, the mangrove forests diminished, and we have not tasted Palo fish in a long time. Moreover, the traditional norms and values of the people of Delta changed their livelihood; now the people of Delta do not capture the Palo Fish; instead, they trap crabs for their survival. According to the researcher Zuhaib Pirdazo, “Now, the fishermen trap the crab. It only happens because Upper Riparian (Punjab) is grabbing more water without permission of lower riparian (Sindh).
History of the Water War
The history of the water war waged by the ruling Punjab against the lower riparian Sindh is more than one and a half centuries old; it originated in the 1890s when the irrigation system of Punjab was developed under the British Raj and the construction of dams, barrages, and canals started. The early dam built on the tributaries of the Indus was a Bakhra Dam in India without the consent of lower Riparian Sindh.
The water disputes surfaced in the British Era, causing the deprivation of the Delta people. The British colonial rulers took initiative to resolve the water conflict between Sindh and Punjab and sent many commissions. For example, the Cotton Committee in 1919, the Anderson committee in 1935, the Rao commission in 1941, and finally both Sindh and Punjab agreed on the Sindh-Punjab agreement of 1945, and Sindh got 75% of the share of water. Such things were also mentioned by researcher and writer Anwar Pirzado. “The British rulers in India had brought about 1945 water agreement between Punjab and Sindh and had allocated 75% of Indus water to the lower riparian Sindh.”
After the creation of Pakistan, Punjab deviated from that agreement. Many commissions were formed, but Punjab violated the rights of an equal share of water, and finally, in the water apportionment accord of 1991. Sindh was awarded only 48.76 (million acre-feet) MAF of water, and Punjab had a greater quantity of water in the accord – 55.94 MAF, but even then Punjab was not happy and drew more water depriving the lower riparian of its due right. The Sindhi press, intellectuals, and political workers resented and staged protest demonstrations in various districts against injustice.
We can’t neglect the struggle of Awami Tahreek and late politician and intellectual Rasool Bux Palijo, who not only organized the long marches but also drafted the struggle case of water and wrote historical documents “The Sindh Punjab Water dispute 1859-2002,” in which he had written, “If any more dam is built on the Indus River, it will cause disaster to its tail end, and fertile land in the districts of Badin and Thatta would be destroyed by the sea. Kalabagh Dam remains a controversial topic among all provinces. Sindhi people will never let Punjab construct the Kalabagh Dam.”
Read: Indus Delta emerges on UN radar
Now, the Indus River System Authority (IRSA) proposed an amendment and six new dams/canals are to be built on the Indus River and its tributaries. The Indus water will be provided for corporate farming to facilitate the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), a project of the elite class.
Rulers of this country are destroying nature as well as displacing the coastal communities of Sindh. The people of Sindh, consider Sindhu Nadi (Indus River) as lifeline. It is their source of livelihood, and its water flows in their blood. For the sake of protection of Sindhu Nadi, once again the people of Sindh are launching the mass movement against the IRSA amendment. They are chanting slogan “Building dam on Indus River is terrorism against the river and nature.”
The so-called civilized world was removing the dams and struggling to free the flow of river water. This movement was at its peak in Europe and America, with hundreds of dams demolished. So, we should understand that because of dams, so many people were displaced and many villages were destroyed.
Read: Amendment in Indus River System Authority Act: Save Sindh from Ruination
The upper riparian should provide equal share of water to lower riparian and stops stealing the water of Sindh. Everyone in Sindh is demanding: “Let the Indus River Flow Free, Save Sindh, its Agriculture, Indus Delta, Marine Life and Ecosystem.”
Moreover, financial assistance should be provided to those, whose fertile lands have been destroyed due to sea intrusion, so that they can be rehabilitated.
Farooq Sargani
Student of History at Karachi University, Sindh
Knowledgeable and to the point