-----Original Message-----
From: Maqsood Ghaz M <mag810 at hotmail.com>
To: helpasia at egroups.com <helpasia at egroups.com>
Date: Monday, July 17, 2000 11:10 AM
Subject: [HelpAsia] Letter of Protest on Kalabagh Dam
Letter of Protest on Kalabagh Dam
Dear Colleagues:
We invite you to join us in urging Pakistani Government, WCD and
International Donors to shelve out the environmentally disastrous Hydropower
Dam Kalabagh and to promote fundamental human rights in Indus Basin by
protecting the indigenous people from this controversial project in their
region. One simple, concrete action you can take in solidarity with the
people of Indus valley: Please sign, post and forward / distribute to any
and all individuals and groups that support environment, ecology, democracy
and Human Rights.
TEXT OF THE LETTER
To,
The President of Pakistan Mr. Rafik Tarar.
President House, Islamabad Pakistan.
The Chief Executive of Pakistan General Pervez Musharraf.
Islamabad Pakistan.
The President World Commission of Dams (WCD), Dr. Kader Asmal.
CC.
Mr Omar Asghar Khan Federal Minister
Mr. Javed Jabbar Federal Minister
All concerned Donors.
International Rivers Network (IRN)
Dear Sir,
We are deeply concerned with the intentions of Federal Government of
Pakistan and Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) regarding
proposed construction of controversial mega hydro power dam Kalabagh. We
appeal to 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, your government and ministry of water and power are planning to
start with this environmentally and ecologically disastrous project. You
know 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 / 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 malpractice’s 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 life line 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 & fishermen
(Munhanas) who depend upon agriculture and fisheries in coastal Sindh.
Sir, 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
Indus below Sukkur dry most of the year. Many fishermen living on the Indus
will become homeless and the Indus that is the Darya Shah (living legend)
for Sindhis 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/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 back water 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 KB. 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 biodiversity, specially the
migratory birds of Siberia and Kazekustan and endangered 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/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/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 year 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-Jhelium 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 Sindh
’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 &
desertification of green and fertile lands of Sindh and some parts of
Balochistan and NWFP. Ultimately there will not only be a net loss of food
production in Pakistan but many areas of Sindh will even be deprived of
drinking water. Therefore, we urge you to halt all the planning,
preparations and surveys of Kalabagh Dam. We further urge you to take
immediate action to save the lives, livelihood and habitats of millions of
the people of Indus Basin and terminate this
project at once forever.
Name-----------------------------Org------------------------------- City /
Country
1. Ayaz Latif Palijo Sindh Research Council (SRC) Hyderabad Pakistan
2. Aijaz Mangi Journalist Tameer Sindh Jamshoro Pakistan
3. Jami Chadio Editor Daily Ibrat Hyderabad Pakistan
4. Inam Shaikh Journalist Kawish Hyderabad Pakistan
5. Rasul Bux Palijo Awami Tahreek Hyderabad Pakistan
6. Dr. Qadir Magsi Sindh Tarqi Pasand Party Hyderabad Pakistan
7. Bashir Khan Qureshi Jeay Sindh Qoumi Muhaz Larkana Pakistan
8. Noor ul Huda Shah Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
9. Professor Gul Agha Professor USA
10. Sassui Palijo Law Student London UK
11. Malsi Dias Colombo Sri Lanka
12. Saviri Goonesekere Colombo
13. Swana Jayaweera Colombo Sri Lanka
14. Razk Sarohi Tameer Sindh Hyderabad Pakistan
15. Jaffar Memon Tameer Sindh Hyderabad Pakistan
16. Action for Global Justice USA
17. Abdul Aziz Buriro Pakistan Peoples Party Karachi Pakistan
18. Shaheen Khan Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
19. Arab Malah Tarqi Passand Mallah Hyderabad Pakistan
20. Yury Urbonsky National Ecological Centre Ukraine
21. Dr. Qamar Wahid Professor JAmshoro Pakistan
22. Dr. Shams Siddiqui Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
23. Hafeez Kunbhar Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
24. Hasan Dars Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
25. Ibrahim Munshi Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
26. Qamar Shahbaz Writer Karachi Pakistan
27. Rafik Mustafa Abbasi NGO Activist Hyderabad Pakistan
28. Magnus Linder Sweden
29. Peter Olofson Umea, Sweden
30. Caroline Evenbo Sweden
31. Jesica Bjark Grimsas, Sweden
32. Naseer Sarang Memon NGO Activist Hyderabad Pakistan
33. Imdad Husaini Poet Hyderabad Pakistan
34. Malik Nadim Poet Khairpur Pakistan
35. Lian Greff Environmentalist South Africa
36. Mukhtiar Malik Sindhi Adabi Sangat Khairpur Pakistan
37. Nusrat Lashari Writer Karachi Pakistan
38. Sahar Imdad Poetess Jamshoro Pakistan
39. Görann Ekward Conservationist Sweden
40. Robert Gardet Paris, FRANCE
41. Claude Villard Activist FRANCE
42. Freis Montpellier FRANCE
43. Sobho Gianchandani Writer Larkana Pakistan
44. Taj Joyo Lib Sidhi Language Authority Hyderabad Pakistan
45. Third World Network Malaysia
46. Sohail Kalhoro IT Professional London UK
47. Nadeem Jamali Univ. of Illinois at Urbana Champaign USA
48. Paulene Wiliams Australia
49. Tricsh Kent Perth, Australia
50. Debbie Kersloke Sydney Australia
51. Rubina N Shaikh World Sindhi Congress Cardiff, Wales UK
52. Arif Arrman Jakarta, Indonesia
53. Jijee Zarina Baloch Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
54. Asia Resource Center (ARC) Tokyo, Japan
55. Mahfooz Ursani PNRDP Hyderabad Pakistan
56. Ali Ahmad Joyo Engineer Hyderabad Pakistan
57. Doe Toshiyuki Forum on the ADB Japan
58. Murtaza Malik Consultant Peshawar Pakistan
59. M. Grunbohal Austria
60. Chainarong Sretthachau Southeast Rivers Network Thailand
61. Supacha Charnwong Legal Aid Thailand
62. Naseer Mirza Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
63. Somcha Sirchai Farmers Network Thailand
64. Farhan Soomro Florida USA
65. SHAHBAZ VAKA Pakistan
66. Hussain Uqaili SANA Toronto Canada
67. NAZIA MEMON MEDICAL STUDENT HYDERABAD/PAK
68. FARAH ALI Karachi / PAK
69. Fazal Nizamani Sindhi Sangat Sydney /Australia
70. Nizamuddin Nizamani
71. Nazia Junejo Arizona, USA
72. Michiya Kumaoka Japan
73. Makoto Sataka Japan
74. Makoto Sato Japan
75. Hisae Sawachi Japan
76. Masumi Sirakawa Japan
77. Kojiro Sho Japan
78. Jinzaburo Takagi Japan
79. B K Shar UK
80. Anna Bassol Barcelona, Spain
81. Mireia Dunac Ecologist Spain
82. Ameer Ali Qadri Professor Tando Jam Pakistan
83. Rajab Memon Professor Tando Jam Pakistan
84. Siraj Siyal Ast. Professor Tando Jam Pakistan
85. Asif Baladi Writer Hyderbad Sindh Pakistan
86. Nasim Thebo Writer Jamshoro Pakistan
87. Haider Mallah STP Hyderabad Pakistan
88. Dodo Maheri Badin Pakistan
89. Shabana Mangi Sindh University Jamshoro
90. Moona Thebo Sindh University Jamshoro
91. Mahmooda Mangi Aero Asia Pakistan
92. Razak Rind Al Khair University Hyderabad Pakistan
93. Dr. Rukhsana Fazal Karachi Sindh
94. Ashfaq Azar Daily Kawish Hyderabad Sindh
95. Shabir Nizamani Daily Ibrat Hyderabad Pakistan
96. Jam Saqi Writer Hyderabad
97. Sana Ayaz Doctor Hyderabad
98. Deedar Baloch Advocate Mirpurkhas Sindh
99. Nazir Naz Lecturer Hyderabad
100. Maqsood Memon writer Pakistan
101. Salim Channa Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
102. Ashraf Baloch Artist Hyderabad Pakistan
103. Abid Shah Environmentalist Australia
104. Dr. Aziz Talpur Awami Tahreek Tando Mohd Khan Sindh
105. Mohd Khan Bhurgri Awami Tahreek Hyderabad
106. Wishnoo Mal Awami Tahreek Badin Sindh
107. Akbar Sagar Writer Karachi Pakistan
108. Parwano Bhatti Journalist Hyderabad Pakistan
109. Yusif Leghari SDP Hyderabad Pakistan
110. Tasleem Zanoor Writer Kawish Hyderabad Sindh
111. Akash Mallah JSQM Sindh
112. Mir Allam Maree JSQM Sindh
113. Nazeer Kamal Writer Hyderabad Pakistan
114. Mansoor Qadir Junejo Writer Sindh
115. Khalid Hashmani USA
116. Mir Atta Muhammad Talpur Mirpurkhas
117. Muhammad Umar Chand New Zealand
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