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JANUARY
2008
ISSUES:
Vulnerability
of Karachi
THE
wound inflicted on the body politic of Pakistan by the judicial murder
of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto has not healed despite the passage of 28 long
years. Benazir was a balm for that wound. Her assassination has not only
removed the balm but has opened a new wound for which there is no balm
in sight. Her assassination and the ‘law and order’ situation it has
created has brought into focus a number of issues which a simple
resolution of the constitutional crisis will not overcome. These issues
have been pointed out by the writer many times in the last decade,
especially when crises have occurred, but neither the media, the
establishment nor the politicians have taken them seriously.
Two of these issues are important. The first deals with the nature of
the ‘law and order’ situation and the other with the vulnerability
of Karachi. Both are closely interrelated.
First, the ‘law and order’ situation. The looting, arson and
destruction of property that has taken place is not a simple law and
order situation. It has to be understood that you cannot create small
islands of insensitive and arrogant affluence in a sea of increasing
poverty and deprivation on the one hand and a ruthlessly manipulated
political and judicial dispensation on the other.
In the eight years of Musharraf’s rule, already inadequate public
health and education systems have collapsed. Private education is far
too expensive for the poor and so is public-sector higher education.
This has effectively curtailed social and economic mobility in an era
where social values are changing and new aspirations are surfacing. In
the last eight years there has been no investment in social housing and
people are now forced to live on the streets which they did not do
before. Unemployment has doubled in low-income areas and with it
organised street crime has increased enormously.
Inflation
has broken the back of the poor while all around them are symbols of
affluence and consumerism promoted by the media, billboards and
aggressive advertising by banks and leasing companies. The world of
Pakistan, has in the last few years, been clearly divided between the
haves and those who can-never-have as opposed to the have-nots.
Interviews with persons standing in long queues at utility stores tell
us that people wait there for hours just to save Rs50 per month while
above these stores are hoardings advertising Toyota cars and luxury
items.
Other interviews inform us that an increasing number of people who took
a bus to work before now walk six to eight kilometres to and from work
just to save Rs15 per day while they are surrounded by an increasing sea
of new cars and motorcycles. One news item that the press has not
carried is that during the recent disturbances in Karachi, not only
cellphones but a number of bicycles were also snatched.
This is the situation in Karachi. The situation in the rural areas and
small towns of our province is much worse. To put salt on these wounds
our president and prime minister have informed us on more than one
occasion that Pakistani society is rich and affluent since it has
purchased more cars, TV sets, motorcycles and cellphones than ever
before in its history.
Travelling in different parts of Karachi and from the city to beyond
Ghagar Phatak via the National Highway, as I did on Dec 30, 2007, you
see nothing but burnt-out cars, trucks and trailers, attacked
universities and schools, destroyed factories and government buildings
and banks, petrol pumps and ‘posh’ food outlets — all symbols of
exploitation; institutions where the poor cannot afford to study;
businesses where they cannot get jobs; government offices where they
have to pay bribes and where they are insulted and abused. This is not a
law and order situation but an outpouring, not only of grief but of
anger against corruption, injustice and hunger. Many of the
food-carrying vehicles were looted and around their burnt remains there
is still evidence of the flour and sugar they were carrying. It is
important to note that along the highway no khokhas, small eating places
and modest shops had been burnt or damaged.
The second issue is the vulnerability of Karachi. It has to be
understood that unless issues related to political relationships,
poverty, justice and equity are not resolved, this vulnerability will
grow. The city depends on its hinterland for everything: water, food and
livelihood for a large section of the population who work in the
wholesale markets and the services sector. Government institutions,
especially federal ones, that control much of the land and
employment-generating assets of the city, have looted these assets for
their own benefit. The persons who man these institutions and the
politicians that support them have to realise that Karachi is the
capital of Sindh and as such its resources are primarily for the people
of Sindh, especially for the betterment of the province’s
less-developed regions. They have to realise that the city cannot
survive a four- to five-day closure of the highways that supply it with
food and the conduits that supply it with water, and in the absence of
these there will only be looting and anarchy, the beginnings of which we
have witnessed in the last few days.
Politicians have to realise that in the long run dependence on the army
to guarantee the continuation of these supplies is not an option that
should be pursued for it damages the democratic process and skews the
relationship between the different actors in Sindh’s political drama.
The only solution lies in striving for a broad-based consensus on how
the province is to be governed and developed.
This consensus should not be based on political opportunism and
so-called pragmatism but on an understanding of history and on moral and
ethical values which alone can guarantee development and relationships
based on justice and equity. In the absence of such a consensus, Karachi
will remain vulnerable and the rest of Sindh will remain alienated from
it.
(By
Arif Hasan, Dawn, 03/01/2007)
The
stalled human development
THE
government’s economic policies have failed to improve the
socio-economic conditions of the poor. Despite an average annual growth
rate in the GDP of seven per cent in the last five years (2002-2007), no
trickle down effect is discernible in the economic conditions of lower
income groups. The structural adjustment programmes and economic reforms
have been unable to create favourable conditions for the equitable
distribution of resources. At the same time the IMF and World Bank
sponsored reforms to create a free market model have failed to create
true competition in Pakistan.
The Human Development Index (HDI) is the best measure for human progress
because it incorporates all social and economic indicators. The current
Human Development Report (HDR)-2006 has revealed the impact of the
economic public policies on the masses. Pakistan’s rank in the HDI in
last three years has been almost stagnant at 135, 134 and 136. The
public expenditure on health as a percentage of GDP is the lowest in the
list of the 177 countries. On average Pakistan spent only 0.4 per cent
of its GDP on health and the current budget has allocated less than one
per cent on health. This is a clear demonstration of the government’s
neglectful attitude towards the health sector.
The last five years have been the worst for 90 million people, that is,
56.25 per cent of the total population and their per capita income is
$450 or below as the double digit food inflation did not permit the poor
masses to consume necessary proteins, vitamins, carbohydrates, minerals
and calcium. This made an impact on the people’s health who suffered
from malnourishment that has been a major problem since the 1990s; the
HDR confirms that 24 per cent of the population is undernourished.
South Asia is home to 40 per cent of the world’s absolute poor.
According to one estimate 135-190 million people, 45 per cent, of the
world’s chronic poor live in South Asia. Three-fourth of these are in
India while the remaining are in Bangladesh and Pakistan. Chronic
poverty is a permanent feature in the rural regions of Pakistan. The
worst form of poverty is the one that is often passed on from parents to
children because the sufferers do not have access to education, health,
nutrition and civic facilities that are necessary to help a person
escape the vicious circle of poverty.
The
government claims that it has spent Rs1.441tn on poverty reduction and
employment generation but 24 per cent of the population still lives
below the national poverty line, estimated to be Rs878.64 per month per
adult rather than Rs1800 per month (the international standard). The
unemployment rate is 6.20 per cent while in 1990 around one million
people were unemployed and unemployment swelled to around 3.5 million in
the year 2003-2004.
Seventy-four
per cent of the population lives on or below two dollar per day in
Pakistan. The remaining 26 per cent consists of low, middle and
high-income groups. One interpretation of this huge gap in income is
that wealth is concentrated in the hands of a small minority (26 per
cent) while the majority (74 per cent) is deprived of adequate resources
and opportunities for socio-economic development.
The poverty alleviation programmes in South Asia have not been
successful in achieving their goals. The annual reduction in absolute
poor in 1981- 2004 in South Asia was merely 0.40 per cent while in East
Asia and Middle East it is 6.06 per cent and 2.76 per cent respectively.
In terms of the Poverty of Opportunity Index (POPI) Pakistan’s
performance is not satisfactory at all in creating better health and
educational opportunities and reducing income inequalities. There are 46
developing countries in POPI analysis and Pakistan’s rank is 27.
The students’ enrolment in primary, secondary and tertiary level is 40
per cent and it stands at 15 from the bottom of the list of 177
countries. The school drop out rate is also very high due to poverty in
rural and urban regions. The literacy rate is 55 per cent as per the
official standard however it is far less in case of using the
International standard. Around fifty per cent of the labour force is
illiterate and its skills are deficient and this has resulted in lower
labour productivity. According to the International Labour Organisation,
the average labour productivity in Pakistan was merely 2.90 per cent
between 1980 and 2005 and is higher in East Asia.
On average the government has allocated only 2.30 per cent of the GDP
for education in the last few years. In terms of public expenditure on
education, Pakistan occupies the 17th lowest position among 177
countries. In the current budget the education sector has got four per
cent of GDP but the access to education is still questionable because of
an insufficient educational infrastructure and the feudal norms that do
not encourage spread of education in non-feudal communities in rural
areas. Inflation in Pakistan was highest in the SAARC region
during1987-1997. The years 2006 and 2007 are the worst in terms of
double-digit inflation with respect to food and non-food items. The
State Bank’s tight monitory policy has been completely unsuccessful in
reducing price hikes especially on wheat flour, oil, ghee, pulses, rice,
egg, and sugar.
The share of rent is 23.30 per cent in the non-food basket and it
recorded an inflation rate of 10 per cent in last year so the cost of
living has increased tremendously.
The inflation in pharmaceuticals, fees of medical services and doctors
has been rising. For instance, heart surgery costs Rs300, 000 in
government hospitals and at private hospitals it ranges from Rs400, 000
to Rs1000, 000.
The current budget has increased minimum wages from Rs4000 to Rs4600
rupees per month and the pension of some specific groups has also
increased. The idea of fixing minimum wages is to protect the ‘working
poor’ from price rises but the increase of only Rs600 per month is
insufficient to nullify the impact of inflation. According to Labour
Force Survey, the formal sector is 30 per cent of the total labour
force; the minimum wage rule is only applicable to just 10 per cent of
the formal sector while the remaining 90 per cent is not the domain of
labour and minimum wage laws.
The contract labour system is exploitative but it is dominant in local
and multinational corporations because there is no legal binding on
employers to provide all benefits like social security, provident fund,
medical and insurance facility to labour.
The gloomy picture of our social and economic indicators are a clear
manifestation of the pattern of our economic policies that are pro-rich.
They offer ample opportunities for ‘wealth concentration’ to the
affluent while the poor have been marginalised in human development. If
our HDI ranking has to improve, the policy makers must re-evaluate the
reforms and priorities they are pursuing.
The writer is a research analyst and teaches management sciences at the
Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Pakistan.
(By
Zafar Mehdi, Dawn, 16/01/2008)
Road
traffic accidents: what lies beneath
Road
Traffic Accidents (RTA) is one of the most critical issues in the city
but the facilities given to the victims of road accidents are not up to
the mark. Additionally, lack of public awareness about their legal
rights and violations of traffic laws have deprived many victims or
their heirs of the benefits they are legally entitled to. It is very
interesting to note that according to an official statement by Capital
City Police (Traffic), 1,020 RTAs were reported last year and 1,171 RTAs
were reported in 2006. On the other hand, if one views the facts given
by Road Traffic Injury Research and Prevention Centre (RTIRPC), it can
be seen that their research team recorded over 33,000 RTAs from
September 2006 to August 2007 alone. Moreover, their research team
collected data from five major hospitals in the city, which means the
total figure for the whole city will be more than this.
The reason behind this huge difference is very certain but needs
attention. The figures given by the traffic police are based on reported
accidents (accidents reported through medico-legal officers in both
private and government run hospitals). While those compiled by the
RTIRPC were based on interviews of accident victims treated at the five
hospitals that were under taken by the RTIRPC for the purpose of
research. The difference is due to the fact that, every injured person
doesn’t go to a medico legal officer (MLO) for registering his
accident. It is believed that most of the accident victims try to get
away from legal formalities due to lack of awareness about their rights
and partly due to poor system that at times become a headache for the
already suffering people. It is very obvious that the medico legal
facilities at most of our hospitals are not up to the mark and general
public is also not aware of their rights in case of accidents. Some
times it takes as long as two to three hours to fulfil the medico legal
formalities. Moreover, in case of trauma on highways the injured are
brought to hospitals but the police officers from concerned police
station takes time to complete the formalities.
In order to deal with this issue, firstly a complete set up for the
victims of RTAs is needed that should have all necessary facilities to
handle an accident victim within minutes, if not in seconds, then medico
legal process should be made compulsory for all the RTA victims to help
them get compensated later, on the basis of the accident report.
Meanwhile, another shocking fact is that in 2007, 61,189 people were
issued tickets for not having mandatory third party insurance, a blatant
traffic violation. With more than 60,000 people booked for not having
insurance, one can imagine the over all number of vehicles plying in the
city without this compulsory document. Irony of fate for Karachiites is
that 624 people were killed while 839 were injured in the RTAs as per
statistics given by the police but hardly any of them could get
compensation since there is every likelihood that vehicles involved in
most of the accidents didn’t have third party insurance and victims or
their heirs are not aware of their rights to claim for compensation.
According to laws any one injured in a road accident is entitled to
immediate medical attention by the nearest doctor. Moreover, all the
codes of ethics regulating the operation of medical profession from
International Code of Medical Ethics up to Declaration of Geneva are
unanimous on one point that a doctor must always bear in mind the
obligation of preserving human life at all cost, which means no doctor
can deny treatment to an accident victim even if no FIR is provided.
Additionally, there is no provision in the Pakistan Penal Code, Criminal
Procedure Code, Police Rules and Motor Vehicle Act, which prevent a
doctor from promptly attending seriously injured persons in accident
before the arrival of police. One of the legal rights of the accident
victims is that they are entitled to claim compensation by filing a suit
in Civil Court within one year from the date of accident.
The issue of concern here is that if people don’t have third party
insurance how can an RTA victim or his heirs get the compensation.
Similarly, going through medico legal process at the time of treatment
is highly significant as it helps one provide evidence in the court of
law after he has filed his claim. Here, traffic regulatory authorities
have a pivotal role to play as they should not allow any vehicle on the
road without insurance so should the concerned department (i.e. Excise
and Taxation Department in that case). Similarly, governments should
also ensure smooth medico legal procedure at all the hospitals across
the city by improving the existing ones.
(By
Farooq Baloch, The News, 08/01/2007)
When
will Karachi’s burgeoning parking needs be addressed?
With
the growing demand for parking across the city, a mutli-storeyed car
parking plaza of about 1,500 cars will be built by the City District
Government Karachi (CDGK) at the Civic Centre, University Road, at an
estimated cost of Rs15,957,6021. The CDGK has invited sealed tenders
from the registered contractors in the transport and communication group
of offices, CDGK. Contractors have been advised to collect the tender
documents on payment of non-refundable tender at a cost of Rs25,000 with
an earnest money of Rs31,91,520. The earnest money of the first three
lowest bidders will not be returned till finalisation of the tender. The
sealed tenders will be opened on January 31. The CDGK is already
constructing a parking lot in Lines Area near Saddar Empress Market.
However, parking on I.I. Chundrigar Road, the business hub of the city,
remains a serious issue. Vehicles are parked on both sides of this road,
which increases the possibility of a complete traffic mess there. Many
believe that the CDGK needs to initiate a huge parking project to cater
to the needs of the business hub. In fact, by and large, the city
desperately needs more parking lots as finding parking in different
spots of the city remains a huge problem.
City Nazim Mustafa Kamal, talking to The News, said that the CDGK
intended to introduce computerised facilities at parking lots but will
encourage private-public partnership to first initiate the sprouting of
parking lots across the city. He said parking lots these days were not
only required for commercial centres but also around residential areas
as they, too, were heading towards rapid commercialisation. According to
a survey carried out by the CDGK, there are no proper parking lots on
I.I. Chundrigar Road, with one lot near MCB already being exhausted due
to the huge demand. A senior officer of the CDGK dealing in the
transport sector said that another issue at these parking lots was the
provision of security under the prevailing situation of uncertainty. The
officer said that, for this reason, one had to employ help from experts,
possibly from abroad, who were experienced in designing huge parking
lots fitted with all modern facilities, including security cameras.
These parking lots could be expensive, but the added expenditure could
be swallowed in the name of security, he added. Places where parking
lots are urgently needed include Saddar, Merewether Tower near Mohammadi
House. While KMC’s old building does have its own parking lot, the
space has also been squeezed with the increase of the city’s vehicular
population.
In Karachi, 600 cars are daily registered and, according to the Motor
Vehicle Tax Department, this number will shoot up to 800 in the middle
of this year. Another adverse factor is that private shopping centres
being constructed are able to ignore the parking provision laws with the
collusion of the Karachi Building Control Authority. Such a situation is
evident from the parking problems in areas such as Tariq Road.
(By
Fasahat Mohiuddin, The News-14, 13/01/2008)
Defying
logic and reason
MULLAH
Naseeruddin, the sardonic sage, once decided that he could make his
donkey survive without fodder because it was proving expensive and
troublesome. In spite of objections he began reducing the fodder daily
by a fistful. This continued for quite some time until one day a
dejected Mullah told people that the foolish donkey died just as it was
getting used to living without fodder. He said had it survived one more
day without the last fistful it would have got used to living without
food and he would have been spared a lot of trouble and expense.
Successive Pakistani governments have devotedly followed Mullah
Naseeruddin’s theory. It seems they believe that if food prices
gradually go beyond the purchasing power of people they too like the
Mullah’s donkey will learn to survive without nourishment. They are
oblivious to the catastrophic consequences of their policies. Prices
have steadily risen while real incomes have fallen sharply due to
overall inflation and the rising cost of services and utilities. The
lower and fringe classes were barely surviving anyway but in the nine
years that this government has ruled the roost, prices of essentials
have tripled and this has now broken the back of the middle class as
well. The flour crisis has hit the country like a magnitude 10
earthquake on the economic Richter scale and the expected increase in
POL prices will be a devastating tsunami for the people. Ominously ‘food
poverty’ has now reached the rural areas where it was unheard of
before and the centuries-old cushion of helping out each other is no
longer working. The old buffers are breaking down under the consistent
and sustained assault of distorted government policies. This has been
aggravated by exorbitantly priced agricultural inputs and successive
crop failures. Once the social fabric unravels in the rural areas the
resulting chaos may prove to be the last nail in the coffin.
Slowly and inexorably the prices of commodities are going beyond the
reach of the majority of people. A few statistics will help explain the
acuteness of the food inflation problem. Figures comparing the prices of
some essentials in 1999 with those of 2007 are self-explanatory. The
price of a 2.5 litre Dalda ghee tin rose from Rs173 to Rs275, a 59 per
cent increase, while loose-ghee prices skyrocketed by 127 per cent from
Rs40 to Rs91. Significantly, only the poor use loose ghee.Fresh milk
rose from Rs22 to Rs34, a 54 per cent rise. Irri-6 rice jumped from Rs12
per kg to Rs24 in 2007 and is now selling at Rs26. Beef with bone
registered a 166 per cent rise from Rs60 to Rs160 while the boneless
variety shot up by 186 per cent from Rs70 to Rs200. Again beef is
consumed mostly by those who can’t afford any better and the way
cattle are slaughtered and transported is not for the weak-hearted to
know. In Hyderabad I have on many occasions seen stray dogs biting off
pieces of meat from the carts it is transported in.
Sugar
prices rose by 58 per cent over the last eight years without a
corresponding increase in sugar-cane prices. Lentil forms the mainstay
of poor people’s diet and all types registered a significant increase
in price. In the early sixties a friend used to say ‘but for daal
there would be a revolution in Pakistan’ because it was sustaining the
stomachs of the poor. Now it too is getting beyond the reach of the
poorest.
One
is forced to wonder if the government is really short of funds. The
facts prove otherwise but policymakers refuse to consider the problems
of the people as worthy of their attention. According to a State Bank
report the government borrowed a staggering $15bn-plus over the last
four years as the country’s total debt and liabilities surged to the
$40bn mark. Our rulers need these colossal amounts to meet the demands
of their luxurious and wasteful lifestyles.
In the period that prices of essentials tripled for the people, the
total cost of running inefficient state institutions rose four-fold. We
are not talking peanuts here. If these funds were put to better use like
research and development in the agricultural, medical, education and
social sectors, many of the problems faced by the country could be
eradicated. Instead the rulers choose to spend the hard-earned money of
the people, and foreign largesse, on themselves.
The expenses at President House rose from Rs75m in 1999 to Rs309m now,
on the PM from Rs98m to Rs367m, on the National Assembly from Rs250m to
Rs1, 006m and on the Senate from Rs111m to Rs577m. The icing on the cake
is that the veritable army of incompetent, bumbling and at times
positively rude ministers, advisers and special assistants now costs
Rs155m while seven years ago Rs24m was enough for this contingent’s
upkeep. In 2004 Mr Jamali took 29 persons for Umra at a cost of Rs16.7m,
Chaudhry sahib’s 134-person entourage dipped into the exchequer to the
tune of Rs15.23m while Mr Aziz took along 49 persons on a trip that cost
us Rs11.12m. How much of a dent the pilgrimage undertaken by the new
caretaker PM and his entourage put in the public pocket is not yet
known. It needs to be asked if sins can be washed away by performing Haj
and Umra at the taxpayers’ expense. A report in this paper on Oct 23,
2007 said, ‘Government spends Rs65m on overseas treatment of 18
bigwigs’ and ‘that too in a country where the public per capita
health expenditure is a measly Rs360’. It adds that MNA Kunwar Khalid
Yunus’s treatment in the UK cost Rs4.5m while Sher Afgan’s cure
accounted for $50,000. I ask the readers to kindly visit government
hospitals where the conditions are no better than those found in
abattoirs.
Can one expect the governments here to change and work towards the
welfare of the people? I suppose not because their warped and misplaced
priorities are aimed only at self-aggrandisement and perpetuation of
their rule. The people have never been their priority and never will be
because that entails sacrifice on their part. They relentlessly pursue
policies which are unquestionably anti-people and defy the logic and
reason that govern the laws of governance.
It is said Mullah Naseeruddin was told one day that his mother-in-law
had drowned. He rushed to the river and asked to be shown the spot where
she had drowned. He then started walking upstream. Surprised, his
friends said it would be better if they went downstream. He replied, “You
probably don’t know the lady, she acted obsessively differently from
normal people. So I am certain we will find her body somewhere upstream.”
Our rulers are devoted disciples of Mullah Naseeruddin’s mother-in law
and will never do what common sense and circumstances demand of them.
(By
Mir Mohammad Ali Talpur, Dawn, 16/01/2008)
Toxic
water to be released into drinking water source
The Sindh irrigation department has decided to discharge highly
contaminated water from Manchar Lake into the Indus River, despite the
fact that the water on the upstream of the Kotri barrage has reached a
contamination level 350 parts per million (ppm). When they did this in
2004, the river’s ppm went to between 500 and 600 ppm and over 40
people died in Hyderabad alone. This decision poses a threat to the
populations of Karachi , Hyderabad and five other districts in southern
Sindh. The World Health Organization’s standard for water says that
over 400 ppm treads into dangerous territory. In 2004, before they
dumped the water from Manchar Lake , the ppm was at 350, just like it is
now.
Saleemuddin, an executive engineer of the Hyderabad filter plants, said
that currently the water is below the WHO standards and there are no
problems, but, if the irrigation department does this it will be very
dangerous.
Bashir Awan, the managing director of WASA (Water and Sanitation Agency,
Hyderabad ), said that the irrigation department has not officially
informed him that this will happen. However, he said that it may inform
him within the next two to three days. Water experts had determined the
contamination levels of the upstream Kotri barrage and the district
government of Hyderabad confirmed them. “In 2006, we sent a high-level
team of experts to monitor the water contamination in Indus River and
they submitted a report saying that, during the recent closure of the
canals, the standing water at upstream Kotri had reached 450 ppm,”
said Kanwer Naveed Jamil, the nazim of Hyderabad. He said that there is
a difference in the contamination level at the Sukkur and Kotri
barrages. “A team of experts visited the Sukkur barrage to compare the
water quality with the upstream Kotri barrage and found that the water
contamination at the Sukkur barrage was at 180 ppm. This means that
there are contamination sources between the Sukkur and Kotri barrages
and we are investigating the real reasons behind the contamination,”
said the nazim.
In 2004, when water from Manchar Lake was released into Indus River , 42
people died in Hyderabad and hundreds were taken to hospitals because of
water borne diseases. Some irrigation officials, including the
provincial secretary of irrigation, the EDO of health in Hyderabad , the
DG HDA and others, were dismissed and brought under investigation.
Manchar Lake is the biggest shallow-water natural lake of Pakistan and
is situated in district Dadu. It is a vast natural depression that runs
besides the Khirthar Hills in the west, the Laki Hills in the south and
the Indus River in the east. In 1932, the then British government
constructed flood bunds on the northern and northeastern boundaries of
the lake to protect the surrounding area from floods. The lake was a
large natural reservoir of fresh water that was used for the arid
region. Highly contaminated saline water was later poured into this
natural reservoir and it became a drainage pass. After becoming a
drainage pass, the lake would overflow after floods and rains and the
Sindh irrigation department would open the lake’s gates into the Indus
River. This year, the irrigation department has decided to release the
highly contaminated saline water into the Indus River because there is a
shortage in the Indus River ’s system and the irrigation department
has ordered for water rotation.
Every year the Sindh irrigation department announces water rotations and
the closure of the canals to desalt them. The closure usually starts
December 25 and ends January 6. Furthermore, these days the river water
is used only for drinking purposes. “These days water is less in the
river system and the canals’ cleanliness is also necessary, so the
irrigation department closes all the barrages and canals,” Soomro
said. Technically, the high contaminated water cannot be released in
winter because there is usually a water shortage in the Indus River
system and the contaminated water cannot be mixed with river water.
Sukkur Barrage ( Right Bank ) Chief Engineer Atta Muhammad Soomro said
that the irrigation and power department has decided to reduce the water
level of Manchar Lake . Its level has reached RL 112.35 feet (as of
Monday evening) and the danger level is at RL 116. Thus, the irrigation
department decided during a meeting held January 2, on the basis of
standard operational procedures, to release the water into the Indus
River ; it is necessary to reduce the level for the safety of the lake,
bunds and surrounding areas.
“We have no alternatives until the right bank out fall drain (RBOD) is
completed,” said Atta Muhammad Soomro. He claimed that before
releasing the contaminated water into the river, the Sindh irrigation
department informed all the related agencies, civic bodies and
commercial units lifting water from the Kotri barrage to take
precautionary measures in properly treating and checking its quality
before supplying. He claimed that the released water would not harm the
water quality of the river. “Experts are looking into the necessary
ratio with which to release the water,” he said.
District Nazim Hyderabad Kanwer Naveed Jamil seconded Soomro and said
that the water would not be harmful. “Water experts are continuously
checking the water quality of the river and our experts are gauging the
ratio by which the contaminated water would be released into the river.
Initially, experts said that the water would be released at a 1:50
ratio.
Water experts have expressed concern over the increasing level of water
contaminations and the expected release of toxic water from Manchar Lake
into the river. “It depends on the type and level of water
contamination. If the contamination comprises some metals, then 450 ppm
could be very dangerous and can lead to water borne diseases. But I can
only ascertain for sure after analyzing water samples,” said
microbiologist Vikram Maharaj.
(By
Amar Guriro, DailyTimes-B1, 17/01/2008)
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