Pakistan - New hope in the Indus delta after three million have been displaced
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"Managing water resources is crucial. The government must draw its conclusions from the inadequate water policies of the past and start acting"; such was the unanimous conclusion of all the participants in the National convention on the Indus delta environmental disaster, organized by the Pakistan Fisher Folk (PFF) on January 19, 2009.
The situation of the Indus delta is worrying indeed: the water flow is restricted by the great number of dams upstream and water quality has been deteriorating due to the continuous discharge of polluted waters from neighboring towns. Three million men and women have been forced to leave the disaster area in the last 20 years. January 19 will be remembered as a turning point since after that day, when hydraulics experts, engineers and activists from the civil sector convened and worked together, it was decided to set up the New Water Paradigm Commission. The Commission is expected to suggest a new sustainable water resources management policy for the whole country. The commission’s first meeting, organized by PFF, was held in early February 2009.
Update: Saturday 7 February 2009
