Daharki, Sindh

Awami Tehreek organized a protest rally in Daharki town of Ghotki district of Sindh on May 2, 2025 against the corporate farming, six canals, artificial water scarcity, and the reign of bandits.

The rally was led by Awami Tehreek’s Central President Advocate Vasand Thari, Central Senior Vice President Noor Ahmed Katiyar, Advocate Sachal Bhutto, Advocate Sarwan Jatoi, and leaders of the Sindhyani Tehreek Shamshad Bappar, Paras Bhutto, Rehana Baloch, Seema Kalhoro, and Sorath Bhatt. Also present were Awami Tehreek Ghotki District leaders Ustad Jamal Bhutto, Mashooq Chachar, Saddam Oghahi, Vasand, and others.

Speaking at the sit-in in front of the press club, Advocate Vasand Thari, Noor Ahmed Katiyar, Sachal Bhatti, Sarwan Jatoi, Shamshad Bappar, and others said that the rulers of Punjab have blocked Sindh’s water. They stated that despite a large volume of water available in the Indus system, Sindh’s water has been stopped. Flood canals from Punjab, including TP and CJ Link Canals and other flood channels, have been opened. “By looting Sindh’s share of water, the once fertile Sindh has been turned barren,” they lamented.

They argued that Sindh is not even receiving water under the 1991 water accord. The PPP is staging a drama in the CCI (Council of Common Interests) to sell out the Indus River. The CCI is dominated by Punjab and is a unilateral, anti-federation, and anti-nation institution. The people of Sindh will trample on every anti-Sindh decision made by the CCI.

The leaders stated that the issue of Sindh’s water remains unresolved, and for over a century and a half, Punjab’s rulers have been looting Sindh’s water—Sindh will hold them accountable. They declared that as long as there is sand in the riverbed, their struggle will continue.

They further stated that millions of acres of Sindh’s land are being handed over to corporations. If the PPP does not cancel the lease of 52,713 acres, the consequences will be worse than what happened during the anti-canal movement. The people of Sindh will continue their peaceful democratic struggle to protect their land and river until the last drop of their blood.

The leaders also alleged that districts like Ghotki, Kandhkot, Jacobabad, Shikarpur, and Sukkur have been deliberately handed over to bandits. The riverine area has been turned into a market for the sale of NATO weapons. Police and elected representatives are acting as patrons of these bandits.

Read: PPP accused of selling the Indus River

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By Nasir Aijaz

Incheon, South Korea

The Republic of Korea has successfully reclaimed 16 million square meter (1600 ha) land by dumping the waste in the sea from three cities, at Sudokwon Landfill site near the coastal city of Incheon. The land so reclaimed is equal to 2300 soccer fields.

The Sudokwon Landfill, located 35km east of Incheon International Airport, is the world’s largest landfill area, which has three landfill sites, of which two sites have been completed and the reclamation at third site is currently in progress. Since 1992, the waste from three cities – Seoul, Gyeonggi and Incheon has been brought and dumped at Sudokwon landfill.

The project is being executed by Sudokwon Landfill Management Corporation, an agency under the Ministry of Environment. Under the project approximately 5500 tons of waste is brought per day in about 350 vehicles. The waste includes domestic waste, food waste and residual waste from construction sites.

In 1992, when the landfilling first began, about 40, 000 tons of waste was brought per day, but the quantity of waste decreased to 15000 tons per day in 2014 and further decreased to 5500 tons per day last year. The reason for the decrease was the state-led waste reduction policy, according to a report circulated by the Sudokwon Landfill Management Corporation among the delegation of journalists from nine Asian countries on April 26, 2024. The journalists’ visit was organized by Asia Journalists’ Association (AJA). Young Min Kim, Vice President of Ecobio Holdings Co., Ltd. running the dumpsite, also gave detailed briefing to the foreign journalists.

The report says that the first landfill site was completed from February 1992 to October 2000 with a total of 64 million tons of waste buried there. Currently, the upper part of the first landfill site has been opened as a public golf course called Dream Park since 2013, and is used by 160, 000 citizens annually. The 2014 Asian Games golf match and the US Women’s Open Championship were held at this golf course. It was also selected as the best eco-friendly golf course in Korea. All profits generated from golf course are being reinvested in the region through discussions with local residents.  Some 10 million trees are being planted around the international standard golf course.

As the buried waste at reclaimed land of site one is sinking and has subsided 7.2m due to decay of the waste, the stabilization work continues simultaneously. The landfill is sinking at an average rate of 2.4cm per year.

Leachate Treatment Plant

As the time passes, the trash rots and generates gas and leachate (The percolated water). On an average 4900 tons of leachate is generated per day at all the three landfill sites. The leachate is transported to the leachate treatment plant through pipes installed on floor, and is discharged into the West Sea after 2-week purification process. The low-salinity wastewater has been used to remove fugitive dust from upper part of the landfill and as water for the facilities. Meanwhile, the management corporation is building a system to reuse the leachate as much as possible.

Further, as the waste at landfill site 2 is dry and is not decomposing well, the biologically treated water is being injected to moisten the waste and circulated to promote the decomposition.

Power Generation

The Corporation has also installed a power plant that generates electricity using the gas discharged from the landfill sites. The plant is capable of producing 50MW electricity per hour. The plant was completed in December 2006 and full-scale commercial operation began in March 2007. Currently, the power plant has a daily power generation of 675 MWh, which generates 70, 000 USD in electricity sales revenue per day. Moreover, over the past ten years, landfill gas power generation has reduced carbon emissions equivalent to the amount emitted by 3.4 million passenger cars in one year.

The Sudokwon Landfill also carries out projects to turn waste into resources. It has saved 3057, 000 USD per year by turning sewage sludge, discarded into the sea, into organic dry fuel and supplying it to thermal power plants.

Greenhouse

The nursery greenhouse produces plants to be used in turning the Sudokwon Landfill into Dream Park. The greenhouse uses gas generated from food wastewater as a heat source and hosts spring and fall flower festivals for citizens by displaying plants grown here. It has also created jobs for 1700 local residents annually. There is also a Cherry Tree Road about 2km long and wild flower complex measuring 630, 000 square meter. The wild flower complex also has a swimming pool and dog park for citizens to use. Some 240, 000 citizens used this park last year.

Read: Personal Observations: Korea – The Lamp of Asia

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Dr. Jernail S. Anand

A peasant was ploughing his fields. Recently, the pathway had been lined with concrete and made into a road. A car halts nearby. A man with a hat comes out. He inspects the land. And discusses something with the other man, apparently his secretary. Another car follows in. A minister emerges. He hails to the farmer. The farmer comes running and bows before the man of power.

This land I need, says the corporate. The leader looks at the farmer.

We will pay you for the land, he tells the farmer.

But it is my bread. How will I live without it?

The corporate takes out his pistol.

The leader to the Corporate: No, no Mr. Daka. He is a gentleman. I have known him for years. He has lived a life of poverty. Today is his chance to leave this poverty behind, and become rich. He won’t say no.

Rich? How can I become rich by selling my land? Can I live on in the absence of my land? This is the only thing on earth that I own.

You will grow on this land the crops we want. And we shall purchase them. If there are rains or winds ravage the crops, we are responsible not you. Only you give away your land, for the security of your life.

The peasant’s wife was standing nearby who had come with his food. She was not very educated, but she smelt what was going on.

No. We don’t mind being poor. But we won’t give away our land.

The imp was disappointed. Devil was watching how the imp had worked on the wits of the poor farmer. Centuries back, the imp had succeeded in drugging the farmer with the dream of success which resulted in his fall from grace.

You have not done enough. Why is the woman not supporting you? Is she still insane? Devil was losing his cool at the Imp’s failure.

The car started and the corporate and the leader left the farmer and the land. The Imp now came back again. He placed a mobile in the food bag of the farmer which his wife had placed for him and left.

The Imp became a woman, and gave a mobile to the departing wife of the farmer.

The access to the outside world changed their mindscape. The woman was now dreaming of the city, the restaurants and parties, while the farmer had seen some films on the mobile showing rich farmers in their palaces, with weapons, and enjoying power and wealth.

The bell rings. The farmer receives a call. It was from the Corporate.

What is your decision now? Tomorrow I will come and you will have to decide one way or the other.

Next day, when the leader and the corporate arrive, it is not the farmer, but his wife, whom they have to encounter.

We are ready to give away our land. What will you give us in return?

The leader looked at her. She was entirely changed. The farmer’s resistance had fled. They were obsessed by dreams of a high life in the city.

Only you will have to leave this land. You will get enough compensation to live in the city, and you will get a regular income. The dream of high life was a great temptation. They were called to the Corporate’s office for documentation.

The deed was signed. The farmer had lost his land. And he became a landless worker, who lived on a few crumbs which he got from the corporate. His wife, who found him lose his land, and become a landless labor in a year or so, lost her interest in him. The leader was always accosting her to lead a wonderful life in his harem. And finally she submitted. She found it better to live and enjoy life, rather than suffer with her husband. Before taking this decision, she had put this question on Google. The Google auntie, after studying her predicament, had suggested: You get life only once. Live it. All other considerations are fake.

Read: All about the Evil

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Jernail Singh Anand is President of the International Academy of Ethics. He is author of 161 books in English poetry, fiction, non-fiction, philosophy and spirituality. The Academy of Arts and Philosophical Sciences, Bari (Italy) honored him with the prestigious position of Honorable Academic. He was awarded Charter of Morava, the great International Award in Creativity by Serbian Writers Association, Belgrade at the60th Belgrade International Writers Meeting (Oct 2023), and his name was engraved on the Poets’ Rock in Serbia. Recently, he was awarded Doctor of Philosophy [Honoris Causa] by the University of Engg and Management, Jaipur. His most phenomenal book is Lustus: The Prince of Darkness [first epic of the Mahkaal Trilogy]. [Email: anandjs55@yahoo.com]

Bibliography link:

https://atunispoetry.com/2023/12/08/indian-author-dr-jernail-s-anand-honoured-at-the-60th-belgrade-international-meeting-of-writers/

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Staff Report

Karachi, Sindh

After a pilot project in Punjab Province for Corporate Agriculture Farming, a government-to-government (G2G) Joint Venture Agreement was signed on Friday January 19, 2024 at Chief Minister’s House between the Sindh government and M/S Green Corporate Initiative (Private) Limited, a company under the umbrella of Pak Army for Corporate Agriculture Farming initiative for cultivating available barren land in all the provinces of Pakistan.

This was stated by Minister Revenue Younus Dhaga while addressing a press conference here at CM House. He was accompanied by Minister Law Omar Soomro, Minister Information Ahmad Shah, and Major General Shahid Nazeer.

The media was told that this was one of the initiatives under the umbrella of the Special Investment Facilitation Council (SIFC) established under Chapter IIA of the Board of Investment Ordinance 2001 introduced through an Amendment Act of 2023 passed by the Parliament, wherein all the Chief Ministers and Chief Secretaries of provinces have been notified as the members of SIFC Apex Committee and Executive Committee respectively.

The Federal and Provincial Governments, including the then-elected Sindh government, decided to introduce the initiative of Corporate Agriculture Farming (CAF) in all the provinces of Pakistan.

Hence, considering an ongoing initiative decided at national and provincial levels, the Statement of Conditions (SoCs) for Corporate Agriculture Farming (CAF) was approved by the Caretaker Sindh government on December 01, 2023, to ensure the continuity of the policy decisions of the previous elected governments both at federal and provincial levels.

As a pilot project, concerned Deputy Commissioners have identified some pieces of barren land measuring approximately “52713” Acres, for the pilot project of sthis initiative i.e., Khairpur 28,000 Acres, Tharparkar 10,000 Acres, Dadu 9305 Acres, Thatta 1000 Acres, Sujawal 3408 Acres and Badin 1000 Acres.

The barren land shall be handed over for 20 years after survey, demarcation and verification that such land is not located in prohibited areas, not under any pending litigations or court orders and also not included in any barrage land grants.

Also read: Sindh govt. to allot lands to heirs of martyrs of army, rangers and police

Further, it shall also be ensured that no land shall be considered for this initiative which shall fall within the limits of any villages, katchi abadi, locality, temporary shelters, grazing land, seasonal cultivation, range, any settlement, amenity, potential mining areas, already reserved land for any public purpose, motorways, superhighways, national highways, roads, jails, railway lines, irrigation channels, wildlife sanctuaries, national parks, mountain ranges, heritage sites, religious sites, graveyards, forest land including mangroves habitats and protected forests, wastelands, wetlands, “dhoras”/depressions, sea-creeks, river deltas, inland waters, internal waters, historical waterways, vital security installations, port and sea shore.

The Company shall spent 20 percent of the Net profit on Research and Development in the local area. While 40 per cent of the Net Profit will be paid to the Sindh Government on an annual basis. However, the remaining 40 per cent of the Company share shall also be spent on local infrastructures, irrigation channels, solar water supply schemes, schools, hospitals, development schemes and other facilities in areas where such projects will be executed in Sindh province.

The land will not granted as a title but will be given just for cultivation purposes. Ownership of land shall vest with the Sindh Government. No local rights will be affected by the Projects. No water rights of the local population shall be affected. Companies have to arrange for water resources through alternate modes rather than relying solely on irrigation channels. All Roads, including Roads and trails across the Project Area, which have been traditionally used by the local population, shall remain open to free use by the public, for commercial and public purposes. No land with mineral potential shall be included in this initiative.

The Sindh government shall have the final authority in case any issues arise. A Board of Management has been established under Chief Secretary Sindh which will take all decisions regarding land management and land issues.

Also read: Treacherous Role of Armies Worldwide

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