Alternatives
to Building Kalabagh Dam
By Zulfi Khan
Karachi/London
Have not those who disbelieve
known that the heavens and the earth were joined
together as one united piece, then We parted them?
And We have made from water every living thing.
Will they not then believe? (Quran, Sûrah
21: 30 Al-Anbiyâ)
The role of dams has been essential especially
during times of large economic growth. There are
often better, cheaper, less-destructive alternatives
to building a large dam, whether to meet energy
or water needs. Out of the 40,000 small and big
dams erected throughout the world, more than half
of which are in China, many have brought prosperity
and well being to the people but in the case of
most mega dams the result is destruction of ecosystem,
pollution of water and degradation of soil that
enormously outweigh the advantages.
Modern society has come to understand that dams
can cause significant social (displacement of
communities) and environmental (physical transformation
of rivers, riverine ecosystems etc.) impacts that
outweigh the benefits they provide. A meeting
of growers, officials of the World Bank and SIDA
in 2000, noted that water-logging and salinity
had destroyed 88 per cent of the agricultural
lands of Sindh and million more acres of agricultural
lands would be destroyed due to water shortage
and sea intrusion. If proper schemes are prepared
and implemented, land can be reclaimed and cultivated
thereby increasing food production and irrigated
land without building large dams.
The amount of water in the world is finite and
the population is still increasing rapidly. Pakistan
currently stands at sixth position in the world
as regards water scarcity. Pakistan’s per
capita water availability has declined from 5,600
cubic meter at the time of independence to 1,200
cubic metres in 2005. Karachi has an official
requirement of 700 - 800 million gallons/day but
is actually getting 435 MGD! Out of the 114.35
MAF of water apportioned to all the four provinces
of Pakistan 50 to 60 percent or roughly 60 MAF,
is lost in the system (15 MAF is lost in river
beds, 10 MAF through canal embankments and the
rest, 25 to 35 MAF, in water courses and on farms).
This percolation of water renders 100,000 acres
of farms into a water-logged waste every single
year. Although losses through riverbeds cannot
be stopped, they can be greatly reduced.
At a fraction of the money earmarked for Kalabagh
dam (US $ 12 billion at 1996 price) the entire
105,000 watercourses in the irrigation network
of Pakistan can be lined and a crash-training
program mounted for farmers by proper levelling
of farms and water management. This will reclaim
at least 10 to 12 MAF, that is, double the storage
capacity of Kalabagh. The added benefit will be
an appreciable reduction in water-logging and
consequent degradation of soil. The managing director
SIDA said that out of 45,000 watercourses in Sindh
16 per cent were lined, and in Punjab 70 per cent
were lined. If lining of all the canals and watercourses
is completed then water equivalent to three to
four times of the Tarbela reservoir can potentially
be saved and utilised for cultivation of land
thus obviating the necessity of construction of
the controversial Kalabagh dam.
Alternatives were proposed in the PPP budget in
1996-1997 which contained budgetary provisions
to line ten thousand canals per year to help the
people in the rural areas get plenty of water
for their crops while creating jobs locally. Altogether
there are eighty thousand canals that need lining
and all canals could be lined within ten years.
Regretfully, it must be mentioned that due to
the water shortages in Sindh, the Palla species
of fish is near extinction. The PPP demands the
immediate building of small dams from Khyber to
Karachi to alleviate the water shortage in the
country and create jobs in all provinces. Only
the PPP calls for laying of free tubewells across
the length and breadth of the country as well
as the desilting of dams to help the people and
the country overcome the water crisis. Why have
the PPP programs for the desilting of Tarbela
and Mangla dams been slowed down? So far as the
question of maximising power generation is concerned,
other non-controversial dams upstream of Tarbela
can be constructed such as Ghazi Brotha dam that
can produce 1450 MW; other identified sites are
Dasu, Bhasha, Thakot, Skardu and Banji, just to
mention a few.
It has been established that small storage dams
and power generation units are much more feasible
and maintainable than mega dams. About storing
water, all dams so far built or due to be built
on the Indus River System, are such that they
will store about 150 MAF water in flood season
for release in the lean period of the year for
wheat sowing (Rabi) season. An addition of 6.1
MAF of Kalabagh is expected to increase availability
of water, but with major environmental, social
and economic consequences. However, all dams are
drained by 31st December of the same year. Super
floods occur in the Indus River Systems once in
every 5 or 6 years when more than a million cusecs
of water flow out to sea. If there were a dam
to store this water, most of Pakistan’s
problems concerning water availability would be
over.
For example, Aswan dam in Egypt can store 124
MAF of water and can withstand 9 consecutive lean
years (1978-1987). Unfortunately no site for such
a dam has been identified in Pakistan and the
water flow to Sindh in normal years has diminished.
During almost nine to ten months of the year,
there is minimal flow of water down the Kotri
barrage with the result that there will be amplified
sea intrusion which will destroy cultivable agricultural
land of coastal districts as has recently occurred.
If its supply down Kotri Barrage is further reduced
then there will be ecological problems for the
region - particularly, for Thatta District where
the rare mangrove forests, shrimp cultivation
and the Palla fish will be destroyed which will
result in the country losing billions of dollars
in foreign exchange and increased unemployment.
Maybe a dam to store water at the sea mouth to
halt sea intrusion should be considered or discussed
in our national assembly. Small dams built specifically
to restore or create wetland habitat have been
used successfully in a number of circumstances.
In the Northern Territory, Australia, small dams
have been used to halt saltwater intrusion. Where
wetlands have been drained, drainage ditches can
be plugged with small dams. Where natural drainage
ways exist, dams can be constructed to hold water
in place and create small wetlands. Small dams
can be used to re-establish or create wetland
hydrology. Small earthen dams can be built at
very low costs using standard farming equipment.
Water experts will confirm that smaller dams are
cheaper and quicker to build and make water available
without the environmental damage and people dislocation
caused by bigger dams, as has been demonstrated
throughout India, where small dams have created
jobs and attracted people to the area - the opposite
to relocating the population. Bigger dams can
take as long as twenty years to be functional.
However, the kickbacks are in big dams and not
in the smaller dams, which is one possible reason
why, vested interests promote larger dams over
smaller ones. The Islamic Bank had approved a
special grant of $1.5 billion for the construction
of Kalabagh Dam. Can this $1.5 billion not be
used for smaller dams to create more jobs across
the whole country, rather than mass relocation
in one region?
Only Ms Bhutto has demonstrated the vision to
solve these problems expeditiously. Plans and
budgets for a series of small dams were prepared
and initiated until the PPP government was overthrown.
Unless the water crisis is dealt with through
emergent and quick measures, the shortage of drinking
water will increase, agriculture growth will be
affected, economy will suffer and poverty will
increase. Ms Bhutto wants what is best for the
whole country and wants the Kalabagh Dam to be
debated in parliament and the views of all concerned
parties not just heard, but also understood to
ensure that Pakistan achieves its economic growth
potential not just in the short term, but on a
consistent and continuous pattern.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
