Order and Anarchy

Today, I read in the newspaper that a technical committee that was constituted by the government some time back for the purpose of determinig the feasibility of large dams in the country, has proposed that the construction of atleast five big dams is technically feasible and these include Skardu-Katzara, Bhasha and Kalabagh dams. The proposal also adds that consensus needs to be evolved in the country on any of these.

I wonder what consensus this report talks about.

Only one province, Punjab, seems to be fully satisfied by the construction of large dams and reservoirs in the country, specially the Kalabagh Dam.

The concern for creating large reservoirs immediately is understandable, keeping in view the acute water shortages that the country is expected to face in the near future. However, pursuing the way ruthlessly damming the rivers is no solution. Instead, it has the potential to create new problems, which may be very hard to resolve. In this context, political rhetoric aside, there are some very valid arguments on the side of the Sind province that go against constructing large dams.

Although dams play a vital role in the progress and development of human beings and their standards of living, usually a huge and unjustifiable cost is paid to acquire these benefits in terms of social and environmental issues. The same issues are at play here, against the construction of large dams in Pakistan.

One of the most important consequence that dams wreak is on coastal ecosystems. In Pakistan too, river flow patterns altered by dams upstream the Indus River have caused unmitigated misery in the costal areas of Sind province.

I read in Dawn that due to the negative effects of the altered waterflows in the Indus River, some 2.2 million acres of fertile farmland have been inundated due to sea – intrusion in the coastal districts of Thatta and Badin, in the Sind province, due to shortage of waterflows in the Indus Delta. Further, some 0.3 million people have been forced to migrate from the region and 2.7 million people forced below the poverty line.

Lack of freshwater in the Indus Delta has also reportedly caused the mangroves to shrink to one – third. This does not stops here. Delta regions provide a very suitable environment for shrimps and fish farming. The loss of waterflows downstream Kotri have also affected the fishing communities intesively.

However, there is a widespread view in Pakistan that letting the required water flow down into the sea is akin to wasting a valuable resource. I think that this is not so. Water has to be let to flow into the sea. If there was ample water available to flow into the sea consistently, poor farming and fishing communities would not have been affected in such an adverse manner. I wonder why proponents of large dams on the Indus assume water flowing into the sea as being wasted. It is so important for the coastal economies that are so poor. it is so important for the survival of coastal ecosystems. Infact, this discharge into the sea should be treated as an investment.

This was just the tip of the iceberg.

The agony that dams cause to populations which they dislocate is another major issue.

I’m sure there would be a large number of qualified hydrological engineers in the country. I really wonder why can’t they come up with nice alternatives. Well, there happens to be a very good alternative and I’m sure that the good and able authorities and engineers won’t be naive enough not to have realized it. And it is “Water Conservation”. So much of water is simply wasted in our country. Why don’t proper steps be taken to arrest this wastage.

For example, take the city of Karachi. There remains a prennial shortage of water in this godforsaken mini – Pakistan. But they say that if the waste of water that takes place from lawns to parking lots to industries is arrested, the gap between the demand and supply of water in the city would shrink to zero.

Therefore, I think that General Musharraf, who is going to take a decision on the construction of a large dam on the Indus River, should very well look into all the aspects and consequences that will come alongwith it. From his statements in the media, it seems that he is all out in favour of yet another dam on the Indus. He should very well look into all the aspects and consequences that will come alongwtih a new dam. He should not be guided alone by the pro – dam lobby. He should also make use of his own judgement in view of the available facts.

General Musharraf may be well advised that he may look back in history and seek lessons from it so that avoidable miseries may not be leashed onto the people as well as the environment. And history tells us that dams are notorious for doing the same.