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Water
being a vital element for survival of life on earth is becoming a very scarce
commodity in Pakistan in general and in lower Sindh in particular. Water is the
single most commodity that has multiple competitors. Indus River acts as the
backbone of Pakistan for supply of fresh water not only for its intensive
agriculture and drinking needs but also for sustaining the riverine and deltaic
ecology. Indus River provides 80% of all the water consumed in Pakistan. It receives more than 70% of water from glaciers,
rain and from high altitude wetlands. It is unfortunate that with current
variances in climate in the region associated with anthropogenic factors, water
flow regime in the Indus River has changed to a great extent. Pakistan’s water
resources are being rapidly exhausted owing to exponential population growth, intensification
of irrigated agriculture, urban expansion and unsustainable consumption
practices. This has led to the problems of overdraft, falling water tables and
degradation of ground water quality. According to a recent estimate, annual per
capita water availability in Pakistan has decreased from 5,000 m3 in
1951 to 1,100 m3 in 2011. In addition, Indus River is ranked among
the world’s top 10 rivers at risk.
Indus Ecoregion, stretching from Kashmor to
Indus Delta in Sindh province of Pakistan is regarded as the 40th
most significant ecoregion over the globe mainly because of its unique culture,
fabulous biodiversity such as famous Indus blind dolphin, riverine and mangrove
forests, and amazing landscape. Unfortunately, the upstream diversions of the
Indus River due to water infrastructure development during the 20th
century have altered the natural river flows endangering its globally important
and economically valuable wetland ecosystem. Gradual reduction in the water
flow in River Indus over the past many decades has seriously affected the
riverine and coastal ecologies and their associated and dependant communities.
Fresh water flow in the Indus River has reduced from 150 Million Acre Feet
(MAF) annually from 60 years ago to less than one MAF. According to the 1991 Water
Accord, 10 MAF has been agreed for the province of Sindh which was not released
except in peak flood season. IUCN has calculated an essential release of 27 MAF
for the continued wellbeing of the deltaic ecosystem.
For most of the year, there is no water in the
lower reaches of the Indus River, causing a long-standing dispute between
provinces. Failure
to meet environmental minimum flow requirements is having disastrous
consequences for many river users in Pakistan. According to a study, the deltaic ecosystem has reduced from
3000 km2 to 250 km2. Many of the wetlands of the lower Indus are also severely
threatened mostly due to the construction of large irrigation infrastructure,
and thus have reduced capacity to mitigate the impact of floods besides their
other vital hydrological and ecological functions. WWF-Pakistan, through its
large conservation programme, Indus for All Programme and the Pakistan Wetlands
Programme, is striving to motivate the federal government to develop a policy
for sustainable environmental flow on the one hand; and, on the other, to
support the local communities in developing their stewardship for restoration
of degraded ecosystem through a variety of interventions. Due consideration is,
however, required for self sustaining natural regenerative processes through
effective floodplain management and developing resilience of the communities to
adapt to other natural disasters, such as climate change.
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