Protest against Kalabagh Dam

The letter makes sense. It is bold, and makes farsighted suggestions. But who will listen?

Belonging to Saraiki region my sympathies are with both the parties. When you read facts and figures from advocates of both sides, it becomes very hard to decide who is wrong and who is right. Can you name any Sindhi in favour of Dam or any Punjabi against it.

RE: Contemplative # 30

The shortage of water can never be a problem, we can desalinate sea water anytime. The shortage of power is not going to be a problem either cuz we can build nuclear power plants anytime.

However, there is a minor problem regarding disposal of Nuclear waste; well government of Pakistan has a head start in this too. The plan is to tie the canisters of nuclear waste on the back of donkeys and shush them into Indian territory. If you remember GOP just conducted their census to estimate how many asses are available.

I certainly do not know as much about K.D. as some of the K.D. antagonists on this thread, but would nevertheless venture some thoughts that appear to motivate K.D.protoganists - as I have been able to glean through newsmagazines:

In the next generation, due to population growth, Pakistan is not going to have enough water to support irrigation and human consumption needs of its population. Second, Pakistan is not going to have enough electricity to serve its industrial and consumer needs. Both of these factors, individually, is critical

TO address these twin needs,the Kalabagh Dam has been proposed.

It obviously has a plethora of cons. But the question is: DO these cons add up to enough for us to say no to K.D. and live with water shortage that will result in immense human misery and an electricity paucity that will cripple our economy? The second question is that, as some people, have suggested are there other better alternatives that can address the water and electicity needs?

In answer to the first question, can we ensure full-proof compensation mechanisms to affected people? Can we find substitutes such as artificial fertilizer for the silt fertilization? Can we neglect the wild life as human life is at stake?

In reply to the second question: Can desilting of Tarbela/Mangala, the building of smaller dams, even sea water desilting on the pattern of Arabian countries,solve our water problems? Can nuclear or coal or diesel based electricity be viable?

I think the answers to these questions will decide the issue for me.

Pros and cons of KalaBagh dam aside.

There might be as many voices against as for it. But in my opinion Government should realize, that this issue is like Islam and had been highly politiced already.

They should look for alternative projects rather than strenghthening seeds of discord.

If crores of Rupees are already spent on this project for feasibility, there will be loss of hundreds of crores in the form of disharmony.

Kalabagh dam nothing but a disaster
Frontier Post

The nation is deeply concerned at the intentions of federal government of Pakistan and that of the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) with regard to the proposed construction of controversial mega hydropower dam Kalabagh. It is better that the government should implement environmentally sound and economically effective alternatives — such as reducing water wastage by lining the canals and introduction of more efficient irrigation techniques. It appears that In spite of rejection of Kalabagh dam project by the environmental and irrigation experts and by the three out of four peoples and provinces (Sindh, NWFP, Balochistan) of Pakistan through their duly elected Provincial Assemblies, the government and ministry of water and power are planning to go ahead with this environmentally and ecologically disastrous project. One knows that during the last 15 years Sindh and NWFP (Pakhtunkhwa) and Balochistan Provinces have been erupting in protest and millions of people have come to streets in different cities and towns raising slogans against this disastrous decision. Six complete general strikes have taken place, an Anti-Kalabagh Dam Front (AKDF) and PONM (Pakistan Oppressed Nations Movement) have been formed and different political, social, religious and environmental organizations have started protest marches, hunger strikes and demonstrations.
Sir, The area of present-day Sindh province was the center of the ancient Indus Valley i.e. Mohen-jo-daro Civilization (2300 BC-1750 BC) It was named after Indus, the great Trans-Himalayan river of South Asia and one of the world’s longest rivers, with a length of 2,900 km. Therefore the threat to Indus valley and Indus river is a threat to the ancient Indus / Mohen-jo-daro Civilization.
The proposed Kalabagh dam will not only store 6.7 MAF water of Indus but 12.8 MAF water will be diverted to left bank and right bank canals for the irrigation in Mianwali, Khushab, Jhelum and Dera Ismail Khan districts. Therefore the KB dam will be consuming 19.5 MAF water of Indus and the quantity of 10 MAF which has been provisionally earmarked for out-flow to sea under the provisions of Water Accord of 1991, will not be available after storage at Kalabagh dam. There is already a deep distrust created between Sindh and Punjab on the two irrigation links. Chashma-Jhelum link (21000 cusecs) and Taunsa-Panjnad link (12000 cusecs) have been kept open for the last several years without prior consent and permission of the Sindh provincial government in flagrant violation of the inter-provincial agreement. Due to their past malpractices and breaches of trust people of Sindh do not trust WAPDA and Punjab irrigation department. People believe that the aim of Punjab regarding building a dam is to keep a life and death grip on the lifeline of Sindh. In this way the ruthless and unscrupulous ruling coteries would be able to control the very existence of four crore (40 million) Sindhis. As far as the environmental and ecological aspects and threats are concerned the shortage of water for out-flow to sea has already caused reduction in the volume of silt. Indus River once brought down 600 million tones of silt out of which half reached the sea and half fertilized the alluvial plain. Today, just 36 million tones passes the upstream barrages and dams. The Indus delta was spread over in 350 sq. km before the partition, it also had more than nine perennial streams, now it has only two perennial streams and covers just about 25 sq. km. This reduction has resulted in the erosion and degradation of the delta, elimination of 0.6 million acres of riverine forests and destruction of mangrove forest area, which has reduced from 263,000 hectares in 1977 to 158,500 hectares in 1990. From aquatic conservation point of view the famous Palla fish, Bulahan(Indus dolphin), Khagga (Sea cat) and other aquatic species have become nearly extinct due to water shortage. The annual production of Palla has been reduced from 5000 tons to just 500 tons. Further reduction of fresh water flows below Kotri will be a disaster for the common people and fishermen (Munhanas) who depend upon agriculture and fisheries in coastal Sindh.
Indus River plays a vital role in the formation of psyche, society and culture of the Sindhi people. The construction of the dam is likely to keep the Indus River below Sukkur dry most of the year. As a result under ground(sweet) water level through out the lower Sindh will come down to its disastrous level, as have been witnessed from current water shortage in Sindh hence affecting the only source of drinking water for rural population, i.e drying up most of the wells and other similar reservoirs. Many fishermen living on the Indus will also become homeless and the Indus, that is the Darya Shah (living legend) for Sindh is, will be polluted and reduced from once mighty river to mere expanse of shallow water. This is equal to the cultural invasion and devastation of the thousands year old cultural heritage of Sindhi people. Kalabagh Dam will be a grave threat to the fertile Peshawar valley and thousands of acres of NWFP’s most fertile agricultural land will be destroyed. According to govt.’s own figures a total of 35,000 acres of land will be inundated and submerged by the Dam, out of which 3,000 acres are irrigated while 27,000 acres are barani.
As a result of rise of water level due to pounding up at Kalabagh, the water level in Kabul River will rise due to backwater effect, thus posing serious threat to the Nowshera (a city of about 200000 people) which will be fully waterlogged within few years. Water quality will be polluted by salinity due to nearness of Khewra and Kohat salt formations. As the KB Dam will cause the displacement of 250,000 people, there will be an issue of implementing compensation and resettlement of the thousands of men, women, and children who will lose houses and lands submerged by Kala bagh.
The province of Balochistan has been irrigating about 300000 acres with the supply from Pat feeder of Guddu ( a barrage of Indus) which will be affected by the shortage of water. The destruction of wildlife/bird Sanctuaries, riverine forests and natural lakes like Manchar, Kinjhar, Hadero, Haleji and Chotiari will affect bio-diversity, specially the migratory birds of Siberia and Kazekistan and endanger aquatic as well as terrestrial species. KB Dam will trap an estimated two-thirds of the sediments of the Indus River, which has the fifth highest sediment load in the world and the Dam will increase salinity and waterlogging and will further degrade agricultural productivity of the Indus Basin.
Shortage of water near, and in, the river’s estuary would cause a lot of environmental degradation in the coastal areas, destroying Tamar (mangroves) and marine life as well as causing considerable ecological damage to the Indus in its lower reaches.
Reduced river discharge, combined with raised sea levels due to global warming, will enable the estuarine salt wedge to extend much further upstream than it previously did at the river mouth. The resultant salinisation will have a disastrous effect on the ecology and agricultural productivity and Arabian Sea water might travel upwards for considerable distances submerging and immersing large regions of lower Sindh. As for as the irrigation of Punjab’s Seraiki areas are concerned, the lands along the proposed canal sites are already owned and purchased by the settlers and absentee landlords and it will result in adverse demographic change in Seraiki belt, starting a powerful process of reducing the Seraiki-speaking people to a tiny minority in their thousands years old homeland.

As for as the existing water position is concerned the province of Sindh needs adequate water for April-May period to ensure initial irrigations for major Kharif crops. But despite that fact that province’s share for April, according to water accord of 1991 is 121,400 cusecs, it just received only 30,275 cusecs for April 2000. In fact there is no shortage of water in the country. The only shortage is of fairness. The Chashma-Jhelum and Taunsa-Panjnad link canals were built under Indus Water Treaty to supply dry beds of eastern rivers, surrendered to India in a disastrous accord and it was agreed that the canals would operate only under surplus flows in Indus and with prior permission of Sindh government. But the agreement has been continuously violated since late seventies. It is this catastrophic situation which forced the minister of irrigation and power, government of Sindh Mr. A.N.G. Abbasi to say that it is not a matter of simply “choree” (theft) but it is “seena zori”. Before this the then Governor of Sindh Mr. Daudpota also complained that Punjab is stealing 11000 cusecs water of Sinead’s share.
The construction of Kalabagh Dam may offer prospects of lucrative kickbacks for our rulers and may bring some land under cultivation in Punjab but only at the cost of inundation and displacement in NWFP, ecological and environmental disaster in Indus basin and at the cost of destruction and desertification of green and fertile lands of Sindh and some parts of Balochistan and NWFP. The Government is planning to act against the consensus of the three provinces and ultimately there will not only be a net loss of food production in Pakistan but many areas of Sindh, Balochistan and Seraiki will even be deprived of drinking water. This all calls for halting all the planning, preparations and surveys of Kalabagh Dam. And immediate action be taken to save the lives, livelihood and habitats of millions of the people of Indus Basin and this project be terminated at once forever.

dear talpur, as you know, general musharraf has recently made some noises indicating that he favours the dam...i am curious to hear your opinion on why he did so.....i am not a dam supporter or a musharaf supporter..just genuinely curious about the mechanics of this sympathy:

1.is it based on sincere belief that this is a good idea? if so, where does he get that information and why is he not swayed by contrary claims?

2. does he (or some friends) have a monetary interest in the thing?

3. is he influenced by other generals who have hidden interests of their own?

and finally, why hasnt his own cabinet member omar asghar khan (who has previously been opposed to the dam) told him this is a bad idea?

I agree with Mr. Talpur that the dam will be a disaster. I also agree with qadeer that we should not make this a sindhi v. others issue. The dam will be a disaster for the whole of Pakistan full stop. All mega projects are unsustainable in the long run and will just add to our already ridiculous level of national debt. This has been the consequence of Tarbela (which never solved our water and power issues anyway), the construction of a new capital at Islamabad (which I also blame for contributing to the cessation of East Pakistan). Jinnah terminal (Was it really necessary - the other three well constructed terminals at Karachi Airport are currently lying unused), Pakistan Steel (which has never been profitable and produces steel at a higher unit cost and lower quality than imported steel). The dam is even a disaster for the Punjab as only 3 districts will receive benefits from it. Which province suffered the most under the Tarbela floods a few years ago? Punjab of course.

FOR THE RECORD -- DAMN THE DAM

Reconsidering my initial reaction I find the arguments against the dam are more powerful, therefore I will sign the letter.

---t

Mr Sidduiqi-

All the ecological studies have been done. This is not something new. You just have to make an effort to find all the related research material.
It is an environmental disaster!

Besides Pakistan is a federation and 3 federating units are against the construction of KBD. So why does the center have a problem with respecting the wishes of people of Balochistan, Sindh and Pakhtoonkhwa..

Before anyone says ``Build it, Damn it``,
let us hope that a thorough ecological impact
study has been done on this project!

Ras

Sinhdri Khaatir Jehrro aa
Jeeanr Khaatir Jehro aa
Panri Khaatir Jehro aa
Daryaa Khaatir Jehro aa
Jais taeen hikroo Sindhi hoondo
Kalabagh Dam naa tahindo

RE: ZAKKKK # 14

The reverse flow of river Sindh or many other rivers throughout the world is a fact but you are exagerating it grossly by saying that the reverse flow is upto Nowshehra (about 900 miles inland)That is absolutely absurd. This phenomenon of nature is not bound by a time limit of one century either. it may happen several times within a year and happens every year. You must consider the following points:

1. The sea water rises when there is high tide due to the gravity of the moon.

2. This rise of sea water in-land is limited to the swamp land where rivers drop into the seas. In our case the swamp land near Thatta.

3. Usually if a river has a normal flow the river water is able to push the sea water back having more pressure than the tidal waters.

4. However when the water level in river is low, e.g due to shortage of rains the sea water rises a few miles into the land. But that is not exactly true either. In other words the concentration of sea water as compared to fresh water becomes hihgher and we say that the river is flowing in reverse.

I think Mr. Mumtaz Bhutto ``discovered`` this phenomenon and the time limit of one century was ``set`` by him so that he did not have to....

Regards.

Mir Talpur Sahib,

Please dont use the fronts of Sindhi-ism nor use the front of Punjabi-ism to make your point.We are all Pakistani first and then what ever we want to be.

Ancient civilizations are ancient as the term proposes,we should be concerned about the future of the country.

So far what you brought up is against the project,if you truly are sincere to your cause then you should put forward the benefits of the project also.We all can think also and hence are perfectly capabale of making a sane decision.

I am for the progress of my nation.I will refuse to see any point with the ethnic torch.

I have no problem with what you are ,infact I am proud of what you are,so please dont bring the sindhi vs punjabi domination issue.

The disadvantages of building the Dam as put forward are truly concerning and are well taken but as I said ,so far the letter was one sided .

The reverse flow of the indus is a fact ..very rare once every century or so ...it occurs in heavy flooding ..the water b uild up with sediment at som point i the indus causes the water to build till its flow literally reverses ..devastating other areas around it like nowshera ..if the water level has already risen then that would be the end of the peshawar valley region and the dam would literally be swamped and overload .

Another point is this cost of 6 billion dollars ..a large underestimate in Pakistan you must add at least 30 % as a minimum for inflation and delays corruption and kickbacks the Ghazi Barotha dam being an excellent example ...an unrepresentatve Military govt should not stcick its nose into such controversial places .Leave well enough alone and stick to your reform package as originally said ...this Dam is a waste of time ....it wont heal Pakistan ....to heal Pakistan u have to allow development equally in all areas and not just in the peshawar Lahore belt ...

I am sympathetic to the view that large-scale, capital intensive projects can only make the poor poorer and rich richer. They usually are adverse to people living in the vicinity and benefit those that are removed from its area of enviromental impact. Large dams are a case in point. They are beneficial to a minority in the short term and are a major source of enivironmental degradation in the long term.

Having said all that, I must also concede that writing letters has little effect on those that already have made up their minds. Confrontational phrases like ``the construction of Kalabagh Dam may offer prospects of lucrative kickbacks..`` can only detract from what little effect these letters may have.