[asia-apec 1488] Fw: Letter of Protest on Kalabagh Dam

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-----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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