Former Prime Minister and Chairperson Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP), Benazir Bhutto has expressed deep concern over the artificial water shortage in Larkana and in Sindh, and criticised the government's apathy towards the problem.
In a statement released to the press on Thursday, the former Prime Minister said that she was deeply concerned that the Drigh Lake in Larkana and the Manchar lake in Dadu, recognised as wildlife sanctuary of Sindh, had dried up.
As a result, aquatic life in the Drigh Lake perished and a huge wildlife sanctuary built around the lake, which supported wild life, has turned barren and the wild life has died, she added.
The PPP Chairperson said the problem of water shortage was widely spread in Sindh, and the Manchar Lake, spread over an area of 65,000 acres and one of the largest lakes of Asia, was also dying due to the regime's neglect.
The Right Bank Outfall Drainage (RBOD) was discharging salinity into it, polluting its water and threatening the livelihood of about 10,000 people, which depended on fishing, she said, adding the sweet water was turning into brackish and fishes were dying due to salt water.
The PPP chairperson said that given political will and a determination to address the grievances of the people, the problem could be overcome by building small dams, lining of water canals and preventing the discharge into the lake of the saline water.
She said the PPP government had drawn up plans for that purpose but it was overthrown by anti-people forces and could not implement its plans.
Neglecting the issue of building small dams has resulted in the massive fall in agricultural production from seven percent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) during the PPP government in 1996 to less than three percent under the present rulers, she said.Bhutto said the big dams, which took more than a decade to plan and build, would not address the issue as those were primarily drawn up as energy related projects.
Comments
Comments are closed.