Kamran Khamiso Khowaja Thatta
Speakers at a seminar organized by Pakistan Fisher Folk Forum for the personhood rights of Indus Delta at Makli Gymkhana on Thursday evening expressed their grave reservations over the non-release of adequate water to Kotri-downstream and said that if the situation remained the same for a long period it would cause more environmental hazards in the coastal region.
Former PPP senator Sassui Palijo said that Indus River System Authority- IRSA and the Federal government were bent upon inflicting serious damage to the coastal region of Sindh by not releasing adequate water downstream to keep the Indus delta fertile as it was around 40 years back.
She said that cyclones, droughts, and other natural disasters had been caused owing to the environmental changes that had taken place during the past two decades adding that the current body of IRSA and Federal Government was responsible for the devastation of the Indus delta and crisis.
The Federal Government seems least bothered to take measures for the protection of the Indus delta from environmental degradation without knowing the consequences of this slackness”; She said.
Agronomist Obhayo Khan Kaushik said that the Indus river had given birth to many civilizations and was the source of our survival for centuries but the negligent attitude of concerned quarters had left a question mark on the future of the Indus delta and the coastal region.
IRSA was taking decisions without taking into consideration the ground realities of the coastal belt; he mentioned.
Mukhtiyar Mahar Head of the Indus Delta Study Center University of Sindh said that it was high time when IRSA and the Federal government should take decisive measures for the survival of the delta and the coastal region.
He further said that like other provinces the deltaic region should also be given its due share of water.
