BREAKDOWN OF THE INDUS FOOD MACHINE

During the course of twentieth century, there have been many changes along the Indus river and its tributaries, especially those in the east. From an economic-ecological point of view, we can consider a variety of human activity in the catchments and along the course of the rivers. For example, the construction of dams, diversions and barrages have considerably altered the hydrological and morphological conditions; the discharges of non-purified municipal and industrial wastes as well as agricultural effluents have severely impaired the quality of their waters. In order to improve the quality of river waters, the competent authorities have made many decisions and taken many actions. One of the most important of these actions is the National Drainage Programme (NDP), which, inter alia, envisages the construction of a Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD) and a Right Bank Outfall Drain (RBOD).

While the LBOD will be discharging its waters into the swamps of Runn of Kucch, the RBOD will leave its waters into Indus upstream Kotri Barrage. Since the river discharge here is at the lowest point, the salinization effect will be greater than anywhere above. Though the objective of any type of drainage methodology--deep tubewells, open drains, etc.--is to remove surplus water from root zone of the crops, in Pakistan where the soil content is high it also removes the salts as well. The drainage affluent, rich in salts especially in the Punjab, is mixed with canal water. No doubt the quality of water remains within permissible limits as is claimed, but it is definite that the soil salt content is on the increase and adding to the salinity in other areas, thus maintaining an output-input imbalance.

The construction of dams and barrages has helped to generate more electric power, has provided flexibility to regulate water flows and ensure water supply throughout the year for crop production, and has led to intensification of agriculture over a greater cropped area. Though the last activity bears a question mark and the figures tend to prove it, the overapplication of water is predominantly indicated in canal remodeled areas. In addition, there has been a visible tendency of a shift from cereal to cash crops, since more water was available and pricing policies encouraged it. No effort was made to increase the yield of cereal crops though the potential existed.

The construction of reservoirs and diversion of water from the primary Indus system to eastern subsystems have influenced the ecosystem of rivers and affected the physical features of the river bed areas. The rivers have not been canalized although the protective bunds (embankments) did exist to contain high floods. But these are now far and wide. The situation has been politically exploited as well to distribute the lands so released. At least once every ten years high spates (floods) take place and the fortune of farmers may fade way without warning. The experience shows, and it is especially the case in Punjab, that the floods are not caused by the overflowing of the rivers, but by the hill torrents, which are choked by human activity, such as human settlements, industries and to some extent agriculture. Down below, the famous salmon fish is on the verge of extinction and the mangroves in the delta area and on the shoreline are shrinking in size and wealth. Consequently the shrimp is losing its habitat since it is being dried up or is not getting sufficient fresh water to maintain its fertility and production.

The industries are taking their toll by adding their unused chemicals and toxic effluents to the rivers. This side of the coin has remained out of sight of the environmentalist because it is at present low in intensity and the environment is considered simply the plantation of trees for commercial use only. Agriculture is adding to its own extinction by unscrupulous use of chemicals in fertilizers and insecticides.

Pakistan has promulgated a number of ordinances to protect the environment. The Pakistan Environment Protection Ordinance of 1997 recognizes pollutants due to all kinds of wastes. Yet in case of definitions, for example agricultural waste, it does not account for the overuse of irrigation water as an environmental hazard. Water is a crucial input for agriculture and the world is worried about not only its decreasing quality but also of impairing its quality. Irrigation water acts as a catalyst for the efficient use of fertilizer and but it acts as a leaching agent as well. It requires more care at the time of its application on the farm rather than investing billions in its safe removal. The exact data of pollution of the Indus River and its tributaries is a matter in need of a serious study. The data is not available today and if the care is not taken for tomorrow, the time will be not too far off when harmful substances will find their way into the remaining clean water and not only make it unusable but turn it into a health hazard.

Due to deforested catchment areas, the rivers carry heavy silt loads. The silt sedimentation is already on the increase due to lower flow velocities and is causing rises in bed levels. This is likely to aggravate flood incidents. In order to prevent such occurrences, improvements are required in:

• physical, chemical and biological state of the rivers
• recovery pattern where loss is detected
• efficient use of water on the farm
• monitoring system for environmental impacts.

Given the situation as it is at present, the objectives can be achieved, among others, in the following manner:

• by determining what measures should be taken to encourage the favourable deployment of the ecosystem, to a level at which higher species can thrive
• by identification of the problems associated with quality of drinking and irrigation water, and maintenance of permissible limits for the future
• by strengthening the institutions, not by increasing idle employment or superfluous consultancy cover, but by increasing the efficiency of water user
• by discontinuation / replacement of the technologies / practices which aggravate the situation.

The problem as observed is two fold. First, it is due to technologies used as a measure to reduce water logging and salinity, to increase the water availability or to enhance the food production, and, second, it is due to nonadoption of technologies helpful in the maintenance of the right environment. The main objective must be to review the technologies already used and to find their impact. Simultaneously, steps need to be taken to limit the introduction of new technologies that in any way or manner contribute to the hazards. Thus, the principal sources of pollution which result from regular discharge or harmful use must be identified. For example, pollutants are contributed by industrial sites, communities, agriculture, energy plants, mining activities, storage of dangerous substances, etc. These are associated with production. Agriculture is the biggest user of river waters and hence the major pollutant. It uses chemicals, but through the overuse of water distributes them into the drain. Those associated with diffusion account for industrial wastes, households (chemicals and solvents), agriculture (fertilizers and pesticides) and garbage. The pollutants entering via the atmosphere could be included in this category.

Pakistan is lucky in that it has not yet been a victim of major environmental accidents, though a minor gas leak has alerted the authorities. The spread of industries and use of chemicals, especially nuclear fuels, hoists the red flag and warns that power generation plants must be well-planned and well-protected. Development is another name for the increased use of new technologies. The National Environmental Quality Standards have already been laid down. Additional studies are required, however, in order to elaborate the discharges associated with production and diffused discharges. Besides legalities, the success of governmental efforts depends upon effective official supervision and the control / use of harmful substances on the manufacturer and users themselves. The point never to be lost sight of is that the inputs or volumes are as important as the discharges and the removal.

Prevention is better than cure, which is very costly, and sometimes results in the death of civilizations, particularly those engaged in agriculture. Pakistan is facing this dilemma. Once the granary of India, it is now a net importer of foodstuffs: wheat, cooking oil, milk, etc. The graph of production is falling, the capacity to import is decreasing and the nation is not ready to take government at its face value. Measures like hydrological, biological and morphological improvements, though supplementary, are the only imperatives to rehabilitate the system, to revive the ecosystem and to recover from the shock. The Indus food machine needs major repairs. The Manchhar Lake, the biggest freshwater body of Pakistan and the winter camping ground of migratory birds, home of exotic varieties of shrubs and source of livelihood of many a fishermen, is the living victim of hydrological imbalance. The lake was a storage of surplus water which could be used in winters. This is being fed now with drainage effluent and is being dried up in order to put its bottom to agricultural use!

The Indus Salmon, if its is allowed to travel above Kotri Barrage because of fish ladders, ends its journey at Sukkur. With more dams envisaged, the committed ten thousand cusecs of water below Kotri may not be available. This will break the link with the sea and salmon do not travel on dry sandy bed. Construction of fish ladders and uninterrupted river flow to the sea would ensure the multiplication of this rare fish species. The mangroves are a national heritage and shrimps a pleasant economic resource. The logic that more water is needed to grow more food becomes untenable when one opens one's eyes and sees the unscrupulous use of water adding to all the ills--water logging, salinity, pollution, etc.--damaging this food machine beyond repair. Is the nation ready for extinction? The statistics tell that one acre a minute is going out of production. The malady is multiplying with every drop of costly medicine. The experimentation which the health of agriculture still continues. The farmers are encouraged to discontinue food crops because of the pricing policies. The farmer finds that cash crops are more rewarding and hence economics wins them over at the cost of the national imperative of food security.

A new action programme is needed to reverse the ill effects of the revised action programme, which has put lots of money down the drain and piled up the loan portfolios. An approach that must be indigenous and must have the consensus of the government and the farmer must be adopted. Any heroic action is bound to land the country in more peril. Application of the best environment friendly technologies to contain the increasing hazards must be owned and adopted. The philosophy of avoiding hazardous areas must be abandoned and the wisdom needed to save the fertile areas must be adopted before the whole basin becomes hazardous. An appeal to donors is opportune at the moment. The experimentation with this largest contiguous irrigation system in the world must now stop, or else this nation will also be a burden on the global community for supply of its food needs. It is already broke. The international community may salvage it before it becomes insolvent.

THE INDUS ORPHANS

" Development should be centered on human beings. Because an individual's well-being is multifaceted, a multidimensional approach to development is essential. Therefore any formulation of strategies, policies and national, regional and international actions has to be based on an integrated and comprehensive approach." New Approaches to Development (UN Briefing Papers, "The World Conferences: Development Priorities for the 21st Century.")

Global Concerns

The world is seized with environmental problems faced by the global community. The major problems relate to depletion of the ozone layer, global warming and resource exploitation. Agenda 21, a comprehensive programme for global action in all the areas of sustainable development, addressed economic areas (combating poverty, changing patterns of production and consumption, and demographic dynamics), and conserving and managing natural resources (protecting the atmosphere, oceans and biodiversity, preventing deforestation, and promoting sustainable agriculture). The Rio Declaration on Environment and Development supports Agenda 21 by defining the rights and responsibilities of States regarding these issues. The main emphasis is on the entitlement of human beings to a healthy and productive life in harmony with nature. The Statement of Forest Principles, a non-legally binding statement of principles for the sustainable management of forests, makes it a moral responsibility of the developed countries to "green the world" through reforestation and conservation.

UN Follow-Up

The Earth Summit succeeded in presenting new perspective on economic progress. Though widely acclaimed it entailed reservations about its implementation due to financial constraints. Achieving sustainable development worldwide depends on changing patterns of production and consumption, impact on developing countries, and UN effectiveness in conflict resolution. The WTO or UNEP are the main actors drawing a line between commerce and the environment. Human beings do not figure anywhere and this trend is finding more acceptance in the South. Though the so-called development of the West has been the main cause of environmental deterioration, the burden for correction was placed on all the countries. The countries of the south where population pressure is high and gross national product too low were not able to fulfill their commitments. The Global Environmental Facility (GEF) which was set in 1991 promptly took over the responsibility to fund activities aimed at achieving global environmental benefits in four areas: climate change, loss of biodiversity, protection of international waters and the depletion of the ozone layer. Five years after Rio, the answers to meeting the goals continue to be negative. And Pakistan is no exception.

Pakistan Scenario

Agriculture is the mainstay of Pakistan's economy and water is its crucial input. Since the creation of Pakistan many hydrological and morphological changes have taken place due to division and diversions of Indus waters between the newly born states of India and Pakistan, and the states within Pakistan. As much as eight link-canals were constructed to transfer water from the Indus to meet a deficit of the eastern rivers now in use by India. The interprovincial water distribution continued to be made on an ad hoc basis until a water accord was reached in early 1990s. This accord resulted in great loss of biodiversity and adversely affected the economy of the delta people.

Harsh Decisions and Wicked Choices

The Indus delta presents a unique situation in the world's environment and to understand this one has to travel back in history. The Indus Basin is the seat of the oldest civilization in the world. The people once were prosperous, well-educated and deeply lost in their glory. The mighty Indus sustained this civilization through the ages, until history turned a new page in the sixteenth century with the burning of Thatta, a large port city and a great seat of learning, by the Portuguese pirates. Instead of spices and gold, the pirates found intellect and education, commodities they were not willing to take back to Europe.

The Indus is a meandering river and has continued to move westwards especially in its lower reaches. It was the only inland waterway that connected Larkana, Sukkur, Multan, D.I. Khan and even Lahore with the outside world. Shah Bandar (Bandar means Port) was a flourishing centre of trade and commerce at the very mouth of the Indus. There are plans to revive this port. There is a question as to the sincerity of purpose. Many think it is an eye wash. A study conducted by the Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources about navigation on the Indus supported the possibility of inland transport on these waterways. The success of Shah Bunder as a sea port will again depend upon availability of water to provide sufficient depth for passage of ships. The mighty Indus has already deposited enough silt to create a shelf extending into the sea for many miles.

The Lower Indus Basin is distinctly separated from its northern part, and has different physical characteristics. The people lived along the river and its branches (locally called "naro") and thrived on its bounties: trade, fish catch and a fertile agricultural belt depending on inundation. The British forced the migration of militant people from Punjab and settled them along the eastern naro, a branch of the main river and a river in itself, in 1901. Sukkur Barrage was constructed in 1932 and more settlers were brought in. This increased the population pressure and brought a social change.

Larkana, the Eden of Sindh, was totally disconnected from the main line of river communication and suffered the most. The west of Indus throughout its course has thus remained backward and underdeveloped to this day. After partition, more water began to be withdrawn from the Indus in its upper reaches. The construction of Kotri Barrage confined the natural habitats of the Blind Dolphin and the Indus Salmon. The coastal areas dried up and salt intrusion deprived the population of safe drinking water. The natural habitat of shrimps in sprawling mangroves is becoming a part of history.

The Dolphin

Owais Tohid in his article "Blind Dolphin on Verge of Extinction in Pakistan" (reported in Green Press Newsletter No. 54) indicates that the endangered blind dolphin in Pakistan's Indus river is on the verge of extinction under the threat of environmental degradation and fishermen who believe its oil can impart sexual strength. Excessive hunting of the blind dolphin, whose habitat used to stretch over 2,800 kilometers (1,750 miles) covered by the mighty Indus river, has forced the marine mammal into a 170-kilometer (106-mile) section of the river between the Sukkur and Guddu dams. Although the stretch of water has been declared a dolphin reserve, wildlife conservationists fear the blind dolphin may be facing its last years before being driven to extinction. According to an estimate, there are only around 400 blind dolphins all over the world and all of them are found in the Indus River. Water pollution, a general decline in their habitat, including the construction of dams, are contributing factors to the demise of the species.

Pollution of the Indus river is a great threat to the Dolphin Reserve area, especially since dolphins are mainly restricted in this reserve due to construction of barrages. Richard Garstang, a consultant working with IUCN, has expressed a concern that the most serious and immediate threat to the survival of the Indus River Dolphin is genetic deterioration. The remaining population is isolated into two, possibly three, segments so we are not dealing with one large population of 600 or so, but several smaller ones. There have been some stark recent examples of what can go wrong once genetic problems set in. The Black Rhinoceros is a good (bad) example. After a recent evaluation of the Indus River Dolphin's predicament Garstang came to the conclusion that the general environmental trend will progressively isolate surviving dolphin communities and thrust them into an ever-increasing cycle of exposure to pollution, human activities, and development, and therefore that the Indus Dolphin is at severe risk.

A population crash in any of the larger remnant populations for any of the above mentioned reasons could force the species into a rapid decline and extinction. According to Tahir Wadood Malik, who in 1973/74 was working in and around Kashmore, where Guddu Barrage is located, he "saw the blind dolphin and it was a playful mammal, which would come upto the boat to see if we would throw some tit-bit to it. The fishermen would hunt it, for oil, and as it ate the fish--how much, I am sure not enough to effect their catch. In 1990, I was in Sukkur, and it was difficult to see a dolphin in the back water of the barrage."

The Choice Between Development and the Environment

According to Tariq Binori, the main point of disagreement between environmentalists and conventional development people is that the latter think that if something is not being utilized by human beings DIRECTLY, then it is a waste. Environmentalists, on the other hand, take these other activities seriously, and view nature as a sophisticated system in which nothing is wasted. If you take something away from a particular use, it will have costs--to nature in the first instance (if it was being used primarily for sustaining the ecosystem) and to humans ultimately. There are very difficult choices to be made.

The Economic Benefit and Social Costs

Much advocacy has appeared about the protection of the Blind Dolphin of the Indus. The dolphin is no doubt on the verge of extinction if corrective measures are not taken soon. So it is also in the case of the green turtle, salmon, and shrimp. By impounding water upwards, more benefits will accrue to the people of those areas, electricity would be generated, industries will flourish and more area would be brought under the plough and so on. Assuming that the dolphin, the salmon, the shrimp, the mangrove, etc. are of no consequence as compared to people in the upper reaches, then what is the crime of the deltaic people which causes them to suffer for the comforts of their fellow human beings elsewhere? Only if the realization is made that the deltaic people are not to be treated as orphans, a little generosity shown to them will not be merely an act of philanthropy to ensure their participation in development, but a means to preserve the exotic species of the delta and the coast, as well.

Nature is Always in Balance

Nature maintains its balance unless the human hand causes a tilt. To maintain a watery link between the sea, it was decided that a minimum flow of ten thousand cusecs will be maintained downstream to Kotri Barrage, the last in the network. This quantity is not set aside as a common use, but included in the total water availability for distribution among the provinces (states). As lower repurians, these people have no control over the withdrawals made upcountry where the demand is fully satisfied before the remainder is let to flow down, in contravention of the universally accepted principle of sharing the waters proportionately. Though the mechanism to ensure this principle exists, its effectiveness is overshadowed by high-handedness. The weaker has to yield and the stronger has no intention of being considerate.

The natural balance of creating an enabling environment for the economic and social development of the Indus Orphans is highly disturbed and assertions at international forums to create such an enabling environment for people-centred sustainable development are quickly forgotten. The sustainable livelihood of these people is jeopardized and the state of their poverty has further aggravated. The UN documents stress access to technology and finance; and, this does come, but its benefits do not filter down and reach these people. The ECOSOC subgroup on Macroecomic and Social Framework chaired by the World Bank does not identify the best practices at the micro-level to support the economy at the macro-level. The Bank develops standards on modes of Service Delivery and issues high-priced publications. The task is considered to be complete and the reports adorn the shelves.

Participation and Partnership

The United Nations and the World Bank do consult the inter-governmental bodies, national governments and NGOs around the world. But they consult the wrong quarters. One NGO from Pakistan which represented the Asian region on the World Bank-NGO Global Committee for six years is reported to have not held any consultations with the NGOs of the region it represented. It's commitment was also said to be not known to the government, NGOs and people of the country! Pakistan's representation at World Forums is also said to be entrusted to people who manage a change of climate.

The people deserve to be taken into confidence for the development of plans beforehand in order to implement effectively action plans that make a mark on their destiny. There is a need to reiterate the call for genuine partnership. The access to the targeted population is essential to the broadbased changes that are required for poverty eradication and provision of basic social services. The Indus Orphans need no sympathies but want backup support and strength through sincere participation and partnership of those who matter; to discourage the elements that with every rising sun plan to rob them of the basic tools of production, and water is most crucial to keep blood running in their veins.

© 1997 A. M. H. Kango

Back to the Global Justice Contents Page

---

 

This page hosted by Get your own Free Home Page