A Life of Displacement The Delta's Saga Thirty-year old Mohammad Omar was not born in Keti Bunder, According to the 1991 Indus Water Accord (IWA) on the the original hometown of his elders. He was born in and is a apportionment of Indus Water between the four provinces the resident of Rehri Mian village. Yet, the discomfort of being government is supposed to release at least 10 Million Acre Feet plucked off from the roots of their hometown which his elders (MAF) below the Kotri barrage, but this only happens in the rainy experienced is etched over his face too. Omar does not refer to season; for the rest of the year, hardly any fresh water is released Rehri village as his home even now; his references keep going into the delta. As a result, the delta with its 17 creeks is full of back to Keti Bunder. His family is one of thousands that have seawater. The continued loss of fresh water in the delta due to been displaced at the hands of the death of the Indus delta. poor water policies could spell the death of the remaining

mangrove forests. Many of these mangroves are located near Omar works for the International Union for the Conservation of Keti Bunder, a small fishing town located in Thatta district, some Nature (IUCN). “My family moved to Rehri from Keti Bunder 200 km south-east of the southern port city of Karachi, in Sindh when the Indus stopped flowing alongside our village. I was province, which is struggling to survive. born here, but most of our family and friends, also fishermen, have moved here from Keti Bunder,” said Omar. Rehri village has For thousands of years, the glacial run-off from the Himalayan a total population of around 70,000 people. Most are fishermen mountain range has fed the Indus and its tributaries. Since the and their boats are moored nearby in Korangi creek. They are days of the British colonial rule, a series of dams and barrages what we call 'environmental refugees', forced to live a life of have been built on the river as it flows through Pakistan into the displacement. Arabian Sea. The area now boasts the world's largest man-made

irrigation canal system. The Indus River is the world's 15th The river's decline has been devastating for those living along its longest river, and until recently, had a place amongst the top banks. Around 80 per cent of the approximately five million dozen rivers with the heaviest flows. people who once lived there have migrated, mostly to Karachi in search of jobs and livelihoods. Unlettered and unskilled, most Today, given rising sea levels due to climate change the world are fishermen, who tend to settle in the coastal parts of Karachi over, the ingress of salt water into the Indus delta is turning acres where they can continue eking out a living. of fertile agricultural land into wasteland. According to Qureshi,

"Not a drop of fresh water is coming into this area and the sea Many of the people living today in the sprawling Ibrahim Hyderi has intruded. It was gradual in the beginning, but now it is village and adjoining smaller Rehri Mian village on Karachi's east becoming faster and faster." coast are migrants from Keti Bunder and they continue fishing in the nearby Korangi creek. Since there is very little fresh water in the Indus below the Kotri

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Death of the Indus Delta

towns located miles away. The community members say that safe drinking water, health and education are their main problems. Keti Bunder, once a prosperous commercial center on the delta and gateway to the Arabian Sea, has had to be re-located thrice during the last century due to intruding tentacles of seawater.

District Thatta is mainly an agricultural area and Keti Bunder in the past was no different. The riverine and deltaic tracts of the delta once formed part of the rich agriculture land. Irrigation water was readily available from the river. Now fresh water has ceased to flow in the delta channels, except in the few weeks of the monsoon season. Seventeen per cent of the total fertile land has been lost due to sea water intrusion. This depletion of water has had serious repercussions on agriculture for the local people. The local economy has been hard hit by the reduction in fresh water in the delta water channels leading to large scale poverty and shrinking of incomes.

It is estimated that the cost of this loss in agriculture to the barrage (the last barrage on the river before it meets the sea) national economy would be massive over the next 25 years. there is not enough flow in the river to push out the intruding sea Today, only around eight per cent of the population of Keti water. As a result, the sea has intruded 54km upstream along Bunder relies on agriculture, while ninety per cent rely on fishing the main course of the Indus into Sindh. Before the deterioration for their livelihood. In the past few years, they have all become of the mangroves the delta was providing rich breeding ground salt-water fishermen. Their catches are declining because of the for fish and shrimp, in addition to protecting the coast from same lack of fresh water which is killing off the mangroves. storms and tsunamis.

According to Qureshi, “The government must ensure that at least Waning Mangroves10 MAF of water is released below the Kotri barrage throughout

Of the eight species of mangroves that reportedly thrived in the the year, which is in keeping with the 1991 IWA.” In addition, he

delta, only three species survive. These include Avicennia said, they must “rehabilitate the degraded mangrove forests to

marina, Aegiceras corniculata and Rhizophora mucronata. The minimize the sea intrusion”.

gradual decrease in fresh water and an increase in saline water have seriously constrained mangrove growth, although both the

In previous years, the local people of Keti Bunder used to grow IUCN and the World Wildlife Fund for Nature Pakistan (WWF-P)

red rice, bananas, coconuts and melons now their agricultural are making every effort to plant new mangroves. There has

lands have either been swept away by the sea or spoilt by water been some success with planting Avicennia marina, which is a

logging and salinity. The mud flats in Kharo Chaan creek of Keti more salt tolerant species.

Bunder, for example, are eroding away at a rate of 14 meters per month.

"We have still not been able to convince our planners and policy makers; this is indeed unfortunate. All across the globe, people

Already much of the population has left the area as are aware of the importance of the relationship of the

environmental refugees. Today, the total population of Keti mangroves to fresh water; that these are breeding grounds for

Bunder town and adjacent creeks is about 12,000 and many all the shrimps and fishes. Therefore, if we protect these

more will have to move yet again if the situation worsens. Most mangrove areas, then we protect the future foods," Said Qureshi

of these refugees have settled in Karachi's Port Qasim area resignedly.

where they hope to continue fishing in the mangrove forests surrounding the Korangi creek, one of the major creeks of the

Intruding Tentacles of Seawater delta. The area around Keti Bunder contained one of the largest tracts of arid zone mangrove forests during the 1980s. Keti Bunder However, for the past 15 years, the Korangi creek has been stretches over 60,969 hectares and consists of 42 settlements of heavily contaminated, but for the fishermen living here there is which 28 have been engulfed by the intruding sea. There are no escape as they have nowhere else to go except the slums of four major creeks, namely, Kharo Chaan, Hajamro, Turshan and the inner city where they will have no means of livelihood.Khobar.

The Ever Worsening CrisisKeti Bunder town is dying of thirst. Fresh water is trucked in from

Korangi creek is among the 17 freshwater creeks of the Indus

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delta. Today, it is full of seawater and is polluted extensively by a experience what it feels like to be inside a mangrove forest. It mixture of municipal sewage and industrial effluents from the was the first of its kind but due to the law and order situation in city. Karachi's untreated wastewater from domestic sewage and Karachi at the time, it never became a popular outing. The industrial estates is discharged into the Lyari and Malir rivers, walkway is now rotting away and there are no other tourist which fall into the Arabian Sea. This waste has begun to pose a facilities in the area.serious threat to the marine environment, as the channel water is contaminated not only with bacteria but also with toxic The community at Rehri is dependent on the mangrove forests chemicals. for its fodder and fuel wood and one can see boats full of

mangrove leaves being taken back to the shore to feed the However, the Creek still has a large mangrove forest which has livestock. In June and July, there is a ban on fishing, so the been rehabilitated through intensive plantation by the local community volunteers to join in the activities of planting communities with support from the IUCN in recent years. “The mangroves instead for which they are supported by IUCN. They community here has planted around 850 hectares of mangrove now appreciate the importance of the mangroves. “There would forests,” said Mohammad Tahir Qureshi, senior advisor for the be no crabs without the mangroves. We can sell these crabs in Coastal Ecosystem, Coastal and Marine programme of IUCN. “The the local markets for a good price” said 25-year old Musa, a pollution in the creek doesn't affect the old trees so much who fisherman from Rehri.have also adapted to the salinity in the water, but it constrains the growth of the small saplings. The pollution accelerates the However, the pollution has affected the fish catch in Korangi eutrophication process which kills the young saplings,” he creek. “There was a lot of fish here in the 1980s and even 1990s. explained. Then with all the chemicals being dumped into the water here,

the fish started dying. The people here also suffer from various There are three species of mangroves growing in Korangi creek: skin diseases and there has been an outbreak of Hepatitis C and Rhizophora, Avicennia and Ceriops. If it were not for the stink of B,” added Omar. The local fishermen say they no longer catch the sewage and brackish color of the water, this would be a great fish from the creek area and have to go further out into the ocean place for eco-tourism given the dense mangrove forests which to find fish.line the creek, located on the outskirts of Karachi.

Impure Waters, Unhealthy LivesIn fact, in 1987 a one kilometer long wooden boardwalk was

Many years ago, this creek was full of freshwater from the Indus. constructed with funding from the British government across

Roshni Usman, a 35 year old housewife living in Rehri, some of the mangrove area so that tourists could visit and

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nostalgically recounted when the water was sweet and clear. problem,” said Qureshi. “There should be one controlling body “When I was a child, we used to swim in the creek. It was clean in charge,” he added. and full of fish. Now it has become a gutter. The water is black and smells foul. Even the old wells in the area are full of brackish 'C' Is For Climate Change

In the future, climate change will not only adversely affect the remaining mangrove forests, but take its toll on the local populace. A recent study done by the Asian Development Bank (ADB) warns: “Impacts on coastal processes and river deltas are a specific concern in Pakistan… climate change will increase vulnerabilities on the coast and delta area; sea level rise will result in inundation, increased storm surges, drowning of coastal marshes and wetlands, erosion, flooding and increased salinity. Coastal areas may suffer from increased tropical storm frequency and strength. Over 50,000 people may be displaced from Pakistan's coastal deltas”, the study points out.

This displacement is already happening. The villagers of Keti Bunder fear they may have to move yet once more due to the sea intrusion. The Indus River System Authority (IRSA) that manages the river waters and which has representatives from all the four provinces of Pakistan denies the situation is so dire. It says while global climate change is the main cause for concern;

water. The only water we have for drinking is from the line it is the drought which is causing all the problems and not the supplied by the municipality and that water is not very clean inequity in distribution of water in the river. either,” she said. The few springs in the area have also become contaminated by sewage. Water rights activists say the officials who control the river have

ignored the IWA which was meant to ensure that all of Pakistan's Although the people of the area are well aware that the creek is people share the Indus equally. In particular, they feel that the contaminated, one can still see young children bathing in its delta area is being ignored because only the poorest of the poor water and people walking along the shore. “What can we do, the live there. children sneak away to swim in the water. There are no parks for them here and they don't listen to us,” said Mohammad Qasim, Some engineers at the federal level consider releasing water 55, who works for the city government. “Due to so much into the delta a sheer waste of freshwater, but environmentalists pollution, there is hardly any fish in the creek anymore and even point out that this is the only way to ensure the delta remains if we do catch any fish here, we make sure we don't eat them!” healthy. The IWA recognized this fact, but a gap in policy exists, he added. for this amount of water has to be released gradually and

continuously throughout the year so that the delta receives The industries located in Karachi are the key source of increasing pollution in creeks like Korangi. In Pakistan, only one percent of wastewater is treated by industries before being discharged directly into the rivers and drains. In Karachi, the Sindh Industrial Trading Estate (SITE) and Korangi Industrial and Trading Estate (KITE), two of the biggest industrial estates in Pakistan, have no effluent treatment plant and the waste containing hazardous materials, heavy metals, oil etc., is discharged into rivers and creeks and the already polluted harbor

To make matters worse, there are several poultry farms located near Korangi creek and all their waste feeds into the water. There is also a large government-owned slaughterhouse nearby and the blood of all the dead animals finds its way into the creek. On some days, you can actually see the red streaks in the water. “Actually, all the stakeholders, which include Port Qasim Authority, Pakistan Steel Mills, the City Government, the Karachi Port Trust, the Ministry of Environment and the Sindh Forest Department, need to come together to do something about this

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some fresh water each month and not just for 2-3 months of the streets and getting their stories published in various media year during the monsoon season. outlets. The Pakistan Fisher folk Forum, a local non-

governmental organization (NGO) which was encouraged in its infancy by the IUCN, recently organized a long walk to draw attention to the problem. In the mean time, what the local communities can do is learn to adapt to climate change with the help of NGOs like the IUCN and the WWF-Pakistan.

In Keti Bunder, new plantations of mangroves can now be seen in and around the villages in the creeks (they have planted the more salt-tolerant mangrove species, Avicennia marina). With the help of WWF-Pakistan, wind turbines in some selected villages are generating electricity, and a community managed boat tanker brings in drinking water to several of the villages. A community-based organization (CBO) based in Keti Bunder is now running the water tanker boat service, which distributes four thousand liters of drinking water twice a month to each village in the area. “We have drinking water now and the wind According to WAPDA's official records there has been adequate turbines are good because they give us free electricity,” said one release of water below the Kotri barrage in the last ten years. The of the residents of a village in Hajamro creek. The CBOs have also problem in the delta area, however, becomes acute during the been sensitized about the importance of protecting the dry months when hardly any water is released below Kotri. The mangroves by controlling cutting and grazing. By adapting to policy makers thus have to ensure that there is enough climate change with the help of technology the people of Keti minimum flow during the dry months. This can be done with Bunder are at least learning to survive.some planning by storing enough water in dams during the

months of high floods. Fresh Water, Clean WaterOne way to increase the Indus river discharge into the delta is Walk the Talkthrough the promotion of more efficient water management The advisor to Sindh's Chief Minister, Sharmila Faruqui, recently practices upstream so that there is enough water available asked irrigation authorities to release at least 10 MAF water throughout the year. Due to the rising sea levels, there is an annually downstream of Kotri so as to “provide respectable urgent need that enough fresh water is released into the Indus livelihood to local communities, conserve biodiversity and stop delta to push back the intruding sea. further sea intrusion in Indus delta”. But again, she did not ask

them to do this in small flows continuously throughout the year, However, there is considerable water scarcity in the region so there clearly is a gap in policy.strained by demand from growing populations and increased competition for the dwindling resources of the Indus. Water This decision has to be taken at the federal level. The conservation measures must be introduced now and people government has to take into consideration the devastation made aware of the looming water crisis. caused in the Indus delta and to ensure that a minimum supply

of fresh water is made available below the Kotri barrage throughout the year. This is the only way the delta can survive in the years to come as climate change wreaks havoc on coastal areas with rising sea levels. According to a local resident of Keti Bunder, “All this [pointing to the expanse of land] was the bank of the old river. Now it is the shoreline of the sea and more is being washed away into the sea." The local people have to purchase drinking water from tankers that come in from other towns like Baghan or Gharo. Hence the cost of living is quite high. The fishermen of coastal towns may well become environmental refugees if the situation worsens. They may meet with the same fate as those from other villages dotting the delta - migrate to the slums of Karachi and live in destitution.

Hope for the FutureThere is not much the local people can do about the lack of freshwater coming into the delta aside from protesting on the

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Water conservation, re-use, and industrial water recycling are drains, which then flow into nearby natural water bodies. There areas that are considered crucial in any water scarce country. is no surface water quality standard or drinking water quality Even though water is one of the most important requirements standard in Pakistan. The treatment of sewage and industrial for life, water use practices in the country fall far short of the effluents is at present a low priority with the government. required minimum for water conservation and water quality.

There is a need to bring release of fresh water and provision of There is very little separation of municipal wastewater from clean water back as a top priority.industrial effluent in Pakistan. Both flow directly into the open

Death of the Indus Delta

This case study has been authored by Ms. Rina Saeed Khan. During its compilation expert opinion on the subject was sought from Mr. Tahir Qureshi, Director Coastal Ecosystems, International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN).

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