KARACHI – The water in the Indus River is not fit for human consumption anymore, experts said while warning of a disaster in the making.
The flow in the Indus River has been reducing after the annual closure of almost all the barrages, major canals, feeders and even small watercourses throughout the province this week for routine repair and lifting of silt from the riverbed that have contaminated the water.
Dumping industrial effluents and domestic waste from all the major cities of Sindh and Punjab into the Indus River without treatment has already contaminated the river and the reduced water flow has worsened the situation. Every year in January, the Irrigation Department closes down all the barrages and canals for routine repairs and also to lift the silt from the riverbed of these important irrigational canals, but this year, the level of contamination has increased to such an extent that the endangered and rare Indus Blind Dolphins have started dying of increasing contamination.
“Major parts of the province depend on the Indus River for drinking water, and the increasing level of contamination has raised an alarm that it could perhaps be a warning of a looming disaster,” Ideal Rural Development Programme (IRDP) President Muhammad Ali Kumbhar said. The IRDP started collecting water samples from different parts of the Indus River for testing them at the laboratory after the news of the dying dolphins spread and found out that water contamination has increased at an alarming level.
The laboratory results of the water samples reveal that some contaminants in upstream Sukkur Barrage and Kotri Barrage have crossed all international standards.
According to the World Health Organisation’s standard for water, up to 400ppm treads into dangerous territory. “The contamination at Sukkur and Kotri barrages has crossed 350ppm, and if the water reducing level and pouring of effluents and wastewater into the river continues, then the situation could become fatal,” Kumbhar said. He said that it depends on the type and level of water contamination, and if contamination comprises metals, then 450ppm could be very dangerous and could lead to waterborne diseases.
Another water expert, Imtiaz Leghari, said that almost every district of the province receives water from the Indus, and if the current situation prevails, then the lives of the masses would be put at risk. “We demand the government to immediately examine the water quality, so that any looming disaster could be prevented,” Leghari said.
