Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has said that he has been raising his voice for releasing at least 10 MAF water downstream Kotri to stop increasing sea intrusion. “Now the sub-committee of Senate on planning and development has proved in its findings that 2.2 million acres of land has been encroached by the sea.”
He said this while talking to Senator Dr Kharim Khwaja who called on him at the CM House to present him a 50-page report/findings of Senate’s sub-committee on sea intrusion.
Dr Karim Khwaja briefed the chief minister and said that he had headed the sub-committee of Senate on planning and development to investigate sea intrusion and water requirements downstream. “The committee has found that at least 10 MAF water was badly required to stop sea intrusion, otherwise sea would keep occupying land,” he said, adding that the 1991 water accord demanded for releasing 10 MAF water downstream Kotri.
The chief minister said he was continuously pressing the federal government to implement water accord in its letter and spirit, but nobody in the ‘center’ listened to him. “It was a clear report of our board of revenue (BoR) that due to acute and constant water shortage downstream Kotri, sea was intruding and usurping sweet water lands and turning the remaining sweet water land of the entire Thatta-Sujawal belt into brackish,” he said. This was why the yield of the lands of Thatta-Sujwal was very low than the lands of other areas of province which had created poverty in the area, he added.
Dr Karim told the chief minister that the Sindh government should urge the prime minister to call special CCI meeting and take up this issue. “This is very serious and must be addressed in the larger interest of poor people of Thatta and Sujawal districts,” he said.
He also said that the senate sub-committee had also suggested construction of a coastal-highway from the nearby area of Sir Creek of Thatha to Karachi to stop sea encroaching further. The proposed highway would serve as a retaining wall against sea intrusion.
Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah said he would hold a special meeting with his irrigation team. “Environment Minister Dr Sikandar Mendhro has done a considerable study on this subject and he keeps pushing the provincial government on this issue off and on,” he said, and added that he would ask him to formulate his suggestions in consultation with other water experts to find out its solution.
He said that Irrigation Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah had also taken up the issue of implementation of 1991 Water Accord. “If the federal government decides to release 10 MAF water downstream Kotri, the entire issue of sea intrusion would be solved. When water is released downstream Kotri, a natural activity of pushing the sea by Indus water back develops in the shape delta. Bog holes develop there and it serves as a nursery of palla fish and fosters various other species,” he said.
The chief minister said that ever since the natural phenomenon had been disturbed by controlling water discharge in the River Indus various issues had developed which were disturbing marine life within the sea and human life on the land.
He assured Senator Dr Karim Khwaja that he would direct Sindh government teams to stop sea intrusion and also press the federal government to play its due role by taking necessary measures as stated in the water accord.
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