IUCN Pakistan Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods Sea Intrusion – A Case Study May 2003 Sindh Programme Office Sea Intrusion in Coastal and Riverine Tracts of the Indus Delta – A Case Study i Acknowledgements Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods, Sea Intrusion – A Case Study is the sum of efforts of a wide spectrum of contributors who provided their expertise and support in all aspects of this document. They have included technical experts, representatives of government departments, members of CBOs, NGOs, private sector companies and coastal communities. We would like to thank them all for the assistance and, in several cases guidance that they have provided to the Sindh Programme Office for this study. A list acknowledging their contribution and support is included in the report, however we would like to apologize for any unintentional oversight on our part that may have led to the exclusion of any contributors. We would also like to thank the Norwegian Agency for Development (NORAD) for financial assistance as well as the support and understanding extended by them during the various phases of the production of this study. Last but not least we are very grateful to all IUCNP and IUCN regional staff that have provided their extensive input and taken out time to peer review the study and improve it through their comments. Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods i Sea Intrusion – A Case Study Contents ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS vii PREFACE viii 1. INTRODUCTION 1 2. BACKGROUND` 3 3. METHODOLOGY AND RATIONALE 7 3.1 Criteria of Taluka Selection 7 3.2 System of Investigation 7 3.3 General Parameters of Study 8 3.4 Problems and Constraints 8 4. DESCRIPTION OF STUDY AREA 9 4.1 Location and Setting 9 4.2 Socio-economic Profile 9 4.2.1 Demography 9 4.2.2 Poverty and Livelihoods 10 4.2.3 Status of Women 11 4.2.4 Sources of Fuel and Fodder 11 5. FINDINGS AND ANALYSIS 13 5.1 Agriculture 13 5.1.1 Loss of Geographic Area 15 5.1.2 Loss of Area under Cultivation 16 5.1.3 Impact on Economic Returns from Agriculture 18 5.2 Fisheries 22 5.2.1 Reduction in Freshwater Fish Catch 23 5.3 Forestry 27 5.3.1 Loss of Forest Cover/ Productivity 29 5.3.2 Loss of Forest Land 29 Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods ii Sea Intrusion – A Case Study 6. THE SOCIAL DIMENSION 31 6.1 Wage Loss 32 6.2 Availability of Fresh Water and Sanitation 33 6.3 Impact on Health 36 7. ENVIRONMENTAL LOSS 40 7.1 Ecological Loss 40 7.1.1 Land and Soil 40 7.1.2 Water Resources 41 7.13. Fisheries 41 7.1.4 Riverine Forests 42 7.1.5 Mangroves 43 7.2 Other Losses 45 8. RECOMMENDATIONS 47 9. CONCLUSION 50 BIBLIOGRAPHY 51 LIST OF INDIVIDUALS/ INSTITUTIONS CONTACTED 53 ANNEXURES Annex 1 – News Report 56 Annex 2 – Notification of Calamity Hit Areas 57 Annex 3 – Map of District Thatta showing the Study Area 58 Annex 4 – Map Taluka Keti Bunder 59 Annex 5 – Map Taluka Kharo Chan 60 Annex 6 – Map Taluka Ghorabari 61 Annex 7 – Taluka wise Land Losses 62 Annex 8 – Aggregate Data of Selected Crops in Study Area 63 Annex 9 – Aggregate Data of Marketed Fish in Study Area 64 Annex 10 – Community Perceptions on Impacts of Sea Intrusion 65 Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods iii Sea Intrusion – A Case Study Tables Table No. Title Pg. No. 1 1991 Water Accord Apportionment 3 2 Average Annual and Seasonal Discharge Volume Downstream of 4 Kotri Barrage 3 Taluka-wise Land Losses in Indus Riverine and Deltaic Region 5 4 Demographic Information of Studied Talukas 9 5 Land Use in District Thatta 13 6 Area under Cultivation of Selected Crops 17 7 Loss of Area under Cultivation of Selected Crops 17 8 Aggregate Production in Metric Tonnes of Selected Crops in Study 19 Area, 1995/96 – 1999/00 9 Prices of Selected Crops 2000/01 19 10 Losses on Agricultural Produce at 2000/01 Prices for the Period of 19 1995/96 – 1999/00 11 Comparative Analysis of Sindh and Balochistan Coastlines 23 12 Aggregate Production of Marketed Fish in the Study Area in Metric 24 Tonnes (1996/97 – 1999/00 13 Prices for Marketed Fish during 2000/01 24 14 Losses on Fish Produce at 2000/01 prices for the period of 25 1996/97 – 1999/00 15 Area Statement of State Riverine Forests in Study Area 27 16 Forest Productivity Losses – 1995/00 29 17 Forest Land Losses – 1995/00 29 18 Water Supply Coverage in Settlements with Population below 34 1000 through Provision of Hand Pumps till June 1999 19 Water Supply Facilities in Rural Areas of District Thatta 34 20 Sanitation in Settlements with Population of below 1000 through 35 Provision of Latrines up to June 1999 21 Prevalence of Waterborne Diseases 36 Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods iv Sea Intrusion – A Case Study Figures Figure No. Title Pg. No. 1. Discharge Volumes Downstream of Kotri Barrage 5 2. Inundation of Land – Taluka Keti Bunder 15 3. Inundation of Land – Taluka Kharo Chan 16 4. Inundation of Land – Taluka Ghorabari 16 5. Loss of Area under Cultivation of Selected Crops 17 6. Losses on Agricultural Produce 20 7. Future Trends in Agriculture: Best Case, Average Case and 21 Worse Case Scenarios 8. Losses on Fish Produce 25 9. Future Trends in Fish Losses: Best Case, Average Case and 26 Worse Case Scenarios 10. Calamity Hit Area of District Thatta 32 11. Provision of Latrines in Study Area till June 1999 35 12. Prevalence of Waterborne Disease – Taluka Keti Bunder 37 13. Prevalence of Waterborne Disease – Taluka Kharo Chan 37 14. Prevalence of Waterborne Disease – Taluka Ghorabari 38 Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods v Sea Intrusion – A Case Study Boxes Box No. Title Pg. No. 1. Variation in Water Quality of River Indus from Kotri Barrage to 14 Arabian Sea 2. Year-wise Shrimp Landings showing decline in Larger Shrimp 22 3. Sea Intrusion Destroys Forests in Thatta – Newspaper Excerpt 28 4. Life Without Water – Newspaper Excerpt, 1 31 5. Life Without Water – Newspaper Excerpt, 2 33 6. Ecological Deterioration causing Mental Ailments in Coastal Areas 39 – Newspaper Excerpt Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods vi Sea Intrusion – A Case Study ACRONYMS & ABBREVIATIONS cusec Cubic feet per second DFI Development Finance Institutions FAO Food and Agriculture Organisation GoS Government of Sindh ha. Hectare HMIS Health Management Information System IPCC Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change IUCN World Conservation Union MAF Million Acre-Feet MT Metric Tonnes PHED Public Health Engineering Department ppt Parts per thousand Rs. Pakistani Rupees TDS Total Dissolved Solids UNDP United Nations Development Programme USD United States Dollars WFP World Food Programme WHO World Health Organisation Environmental Degradation and Impacts on Livelihoods vii Sea Intrusion – A Case Study Preface The linkages between environmental degradation and poverty have been the topic of extensive debates in the recent past. Previously assumptions such as “poverty necessarily leads to environmental degradation” and “the poor degrade the environment more than the affluent” were taken as accepted facts. Today however, environmental degradation and poverty have been shown to be components of a complex cycle in which both are interdependent and the linkages between them are complicated and multi- dimensional. This case study is an attempt to document how environmental degradation caused by sea intrusion in the coastal and deltaic tracts of lower Sindh has been instrumental in impacting and destroying the livelihoods of the local population, thereby exacerbating their poverty. The gradual encroachment of the sea into the Indus Delta and up the main course of River Indus in lower Sindh is increasingly being brought to the forefront of recent policy debates as one of the worst cases of large-scale environmental degradation to have occurred in Sindh. For some people sea intrusion is the main cause of the destruction of several thousand hectares of land in the coastal districts of Thatta and Badin, rendering prime agricultural land barren, contaminating aquifers and causing the degradation of coastal, deltaic and riverine ecosystems. Many believe that the degeneration of land and water resources has seriously affected fishing and agriculture, which constitute the two principal vocations of the local population leading to loss of livelihoods, migration to the hinterland and an ensuing rise in poverty levels. According to observation by IUCNP experts, the sea has intruded 54km upstream along the main course of the River Indus. That this incursion is taking place against the gradient of the riverbed indicates that there might be an absence of any retarding factor such as a considerable volume of fresh water in the riverbed. Hence the sea surges have driven seawater into the river channel. This is an uncommon phenomenon for a perennial river. Many are of the view that the fundamental cause may be the progressive upstream diversion of Indus waters and the gradual depletion of freshwater discharges downstream of the Kotri Barrage – the last in a series of barrages and dams on the Indus River. Adequate freshwater flows flush the coastal and deltaic environments of seawater and salt deposits. Further, the silt load carried by the flow physically prevents the sea from intruding up the river channel. In the absence of a considerable volume of such flows there is no decelerating factor to check sea intrusion. The prolonged drought and water shortages in the country during the recent past have further aggravated the detrimental impacts of the phenomenon. The ecology and physiology of richly productive but delicately balanced riverine and deltaic ecosystems are undergoing adverse changes, and many experts are of the opinion that this is due to a lack of freshwater flow in their environment, depleting the biodiversity of these areas.