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dam-l Kalabagh Dam Condemned by the World Sindhi Institute

Kalabagh Dam Condemned by The World Sindhi Institute

Washington, DC : (13 Jun 1998): The news of the construction of Kalabagh Dam
by the Nawaz Sharif regime in Pakistan was received by The Washington based
World Sindhi Institute (WSI) with shock and dismay.  An emergency meeting of
WSI was held today to chalk out a strategy to counter the Pakistan
government's move. The WSI is contacting US and International environmental ,
human Rights and minorities' organizations to take combined actions in
opposing this undemocratic and fascist step of the present junta in Pakistan.

In view of the clear and incontrovertable resolutions passed by the
representative assemblies of  three small provinces(i.e.  Sindh, Balochistan
and NWFP/Pakhtoonkhaw) against the construction of Kalabagh Dam, WSI considers
the abrupt Pakistan government decision as imperialistic and undemocratic.
Coming at the heels of rancourous debate in the parliament on the imposition
of emergency and suspension of the fundamental rights guarenteed in the
constitution was clearly hegemonic and against the interests of the Pakistani
federation. The  WSI believes that with this action the Punjabi ruling clique
has come much closer to killing the federation of Pakistan and started a
process of dismemberment of Pakistan. In the aftermath of flexing the nuclear
muscle, the Punjab dominated government of Pakistan wrongly believes that it
can treat people of Sindh, Balochistan and NWFP as mere slaves of Punjabi
overlords and unashamedly trample their legimate and internationally
recognized rights.

The arguments put forward by Pakistan in favor of Kalabagh Dam are totally
baseless and without any merit. How can Kalabagh Dam be needed for power
production  when Pakistan had been negotiating to sell excess power to India?
The argument that the Dam will provide excess water for food production also
does not hold water. First, the proposed land to be cultivated is in sandy
areas of Seraiki belt that will drain water like a sponge. Second, the water
shortage in the lower Indus basin is already acute and with the construction
of the dam it will further decline and reach disastrous proportions.
Presently, fertile lands of Sindh will be rendered useless. Therefore, the dam
construction may bring some land under cultivation in Punjab but only at the
cost of  green and fertile lands of Sindh and with more water consumption per
acre basis. Consequently, there will not only be a net loss of food production
in Pakistan but many Sindh areas will even be deprived of drinking water. It
is an open secret that most of the land to be brought under cultivation from
the Kalabagh dam is owned by Punjabi settlers and absantee landlords in
Seraiki areas of Punjab. Thus the only reason for dam construction is
unbrideled greed of Punjabi oligarchy and their attempts to reduce Seraiki
speaking people in minority in their own region.

On the environmental front, the acute shortage of  water in the lower Indus
basin will wipe out INDUS DOLPHIN ("Bulahan") and  SHAD ("Sindhi Palo")
population. Also, there will be an ecological disaster in the coastal regions
of Sindh due to salt water intrusion, especially the Mangrove ("Sindhi Tamar")
forests will be anihilated along with many rare species of fish, animal and
birds that are sustained by the Mangroves. Further more, Kalabagh dam will
result in the reduction or elimination of the flood overflow from the Indus.
This in turn will dry out the forests and Kacha areas along the banks of the
river Indus converting huge areas of Sindh in desert. Also, many wetlands and
lakes that depend on the water from the river Indus and sustain many plant,
fish and bird species will be lost for ever. The river Indus will loose its
assimilative capacity due to reduced and non-existant flow converting it into
practically a cesspool to merely carry sewage and industrial wastewater and
rendering all aquatic life in the river dead either due to toxins or lack of
dissolved oxygen. Any use of this water for public water supplies and other
consumption will expose huge population to health dangers putting tremendous
pressure on the meager state public health resources.

The Indus water has central role in the psyche, society and culture of the
Sindhi people. The construction of the dam is likely to render river Indus
below Sukkur dry most of the year. Many Mohannas living on the Indus will
become homeless and the Indus that is the "Darya Shah or Zindah Pir" for
Sindhis will be polluted and reduced from once mighty river to mere expanse of
shallow water. This is tantamount to cultural terrorism to the Sindhi people
an attempt by Punjabi colonialists to deprive Sindhis of their thousands year
old cultural heritage.

The kalabagh dam construction is contrary to the water distribution accords
between Sindh and Punjab and clear violation of the water rights of Sindh
under the international law and legal conventions. Sindh being most downstream
territory on the river Indus has the last word in manipulation of Indus water
upstream.

Many experts believe the location of the Kalabagh dam is within the realm of
active earthquack zone. Therefore, it is infeasible and potentially
catastrophic to locate a dam of this nature in such an earthquake prone area.
Secondly, the design of the dam would necessitate a huge artificial lake that
will cover most of the prime lands of NWFP, rendering  indigenous population
homeless and will result in huge monitory and economical loss to not only the
people of NWFP but all parts of Pakistan except Punjab.

Considering the above factors, the World Sindhi Institute has identified the
following actions to educate the government and non-governmental organizations
of the world and bring about consensus in opposition of the Kalabagh dam and
bring to bear pressure on the government of Pakistan to abandon the dam
project. The WSI actions include:

1.  WSI will put together a position paper on Kalabagh dam, highlighting the
negative political, legal, envoirnmemtal, technical, cultural and social
impacts of the dam.

2.  WSI will call a meeting of the interested groups in Washington DC to bring
together human rights and environmental organizations in order to mobilize
public opinion in the United States and other western countries.

3.  WSI will communicate with the World Bank, the United Nations, and the
International Court of Justice to present  the grievances of the Sindhi people
vis-a-vis the Kalabagh dam.

4.  WSI will communicate with the other Sindhis organizations world over to
combine efforts to inform the world about the plight of  Sindhis and expose
undemocratic action of the government of Pakistan to construct of Kalabagh
dam.

5.  WSI will organize a protest in Washington DC in front of the Pakistan
Embassy and deliver a message against the Kalabagh dam construction.

6.  In collaboration with other  like minded organizations WSI will organize
an international conference on Kalabagh dam.

7.  WSI will organize seminars and workshops in many cities of the US and
other western countries to present Sindhi point of view about  disastrous
effects of the Kalabagh dam.

8.  WSI will arrange writing articles for  publication in major publication
all around the world.

9.  WSI will produce multimedia publications about the deleterious effects of
the Kalabagh dam.

10.  If, as, and when the actual construction of the Kalabagh dam starts, WSI
has pledged a hunger strike unto death in Washington DC.

WSI has requested all peace loving citizens of the world, especially Sindhis
to come forward and assist WSI in these efforts.