We appeal to you to use your good offices to ensure that no loan or grant is provided to the Pakistani government to build large dams and huge canals in Pakistan. Such projects will have immense adverse impact on the people, economy and environment of Sindh.
Due to their total control of the Pakistan military, the northern provinces are in the driving seat and make all of the decisions concerning joint resources of Pakistan. All of the decisions with respect to water have been made without any regard whatsoever to the interests of Sindh. Sindh has not even been adequately informed on most of these decisions let alone consulted and sought her approval. The organizations such as Water And Power Development Authority (WAPDA) have callously flouted internationally recognized rights of the lower riparian that have been upheld in the courts and international courts around the world. Due to the neglect, discrimination, and exploitation, rural Sindhis have become poorest of poor in the world. Even by Pakistani standards, more than 50 percent of the officially counted population of 29.99 million in Sindh, (a great majority of them living in rural Sindh) live below the poverty line.
The present water crisis that has engulfed Pakistan and Sindh is not so much a result of general water shortage due to climatic changes, as some would want us to believe. This crisis is a result of an unbridled greed and callous mismanagement of the water resources by the unrepresentative nature and hegemonic attitude of successive unrepresentative Pakistani governments. The desire and actions of Punjab to take more than its fair share from Indus River since the British had occupied both Sindh and Punjab in the middle of the nineteenth century. The British courts and government officials, on many occasions, prevented Punjab to divert water from the river at the expense of Sindh. In 1901, the Indian Irrigation Commission prohibited Punjab from taking any water from Indus without the approval of Sindh. In 1919, the then government of India issued the Cotton Committee report; where in, it ordered Punjab not to undertake any projects until Sukkur barrage was completed and water needs of Sindh were determined. In 1925, Lord Reading, the British Viceroy of India, rejected the Punjab's request for Thal canal from Indus considering the undue deprivation of Sindh's lower riparian rights.
In spite of strong opposition that have included resolutions in the parliaments of Sindh, Baluchistan, and North West Frontier Province (NWFP), the present military government is once again pushing for the Kala Bagh dam and other dreadful projects to divert Sindh's share of water. They have approached international financial institutions such as yours for financing of these projects. If such financing is approved, it will have a devastating impact on the province of Sindh as highlighted below:
DEFORESTATION AND LIVELIHOOD: Shortage of water deprives the "Kacho" area from river inundation. About 100,000 people live here and derive direct sustenance from this area. In addition, about a million people benefit from this area in the timber trade, firewood supply, and as fishermen and boatmen. River forests along the Indus River are threatened due to reduced flow in the Indus, as the river water is the only source of regeneration and growth of these forests.
LAKES, WETLANDS AND MANGROVE FOREST DESTRUCTION: The water, nutrients and silt deposited by the Indus when it discharges into the sea, sustains the mangroves. These forests form an important component of the coastal ecosystem. The forests support many species and are a source of timber, fodder, and wild life. They are major breeding areas for shrimp and crab. If Indus continues to receive reduced flows, the lakes and wetlands could loose their inflow and slowly become polluted and smaller ones will even dry out and any life in them would die out as well.
SALT WATER INTRUSION: The Indus water discharge to the sea keeps the sea water at bay and does not let it intrude too much into the surface and ground water resources inland. Salt-water intrusion has been witnessed inland up to 100 kilometers north of the sea. The salt-water intrusion destroys water supplies and renders fertile agricultural lands useless, resulting in loss of jobs and economic devastation. Pakistan National Institute of Oceanography and National Science Foundation has established that salt-water intrusion into the plains of lower Sindh is directly related to the decrease of flow in River Indus.
RARE AND ENDANGERED SPECIES AT RISK: The Indus Blind Dolphin or Bullahan, a rare specie, was once present throughout the entire Indus river system and numbers were in hundreds of thousands. The numbers of the Indus Blind Dolphin have dwindled from 500 in 1993 to mere less than 200 in a short stretch of the Indus between Sukkur and Gudu barrages. Shad or Pallo fish, Barramundi fish, Dangri fish, and shrimps are threatened to become extinct due to lack of water outflow to the sea and destruction of the mangrove forests.
CULTURAL DEPRIVATION: Water has great importance in the lives and belief system of the Sindhi people. The religion, literature, and many cultural and social aspects of their lives are intertwined with water; especially the Indus. Depriving them of water is to deprive them from their core belief system and cultural values.
We appeal to you and other officials of your bank to impress upon the government of Pakistan to change its policy of building large dams and canals and instead create a comprehensive water plan for Pakistan based on the following principles:
1. Fair Indus River water policies should be developed and implemented based on the Sindh-Punjab agreement of 1945. These policies should ban construction of any structures, including the Kalabagh Dam, Thal Canal, and similar projects.
2. A study should be conducted as envisaged in the 1991 Water Accord to cover all environmental and ecological consequences downstream from Kotri Barrage due to reduced water releases. The study must establish the water needs downstream for human population, protection of mangroves, prevention of sea intrusion, sustenance of fisheries, and maintenance of groundwater quality.
3. A new agreement should be developed based on the 1945 Sindh - Punjab agreement and the 1962 Indus Basin Water Treaty between India and Pakistan. The new agreement must recognize the internationally accepted lower riparian rights.
We hope that we have made a convincing case for your intervention to save the environment and economic deprivation of Sindh. In these desperate times for Sindhis, we have no alternative but to approach you and people like you who can influence the Pakistan government diplomatically as well as by including safeguards for Sindhis in their loan and grant agreements.

With a length of 1,800 miles (2,900 kilometers,) the Indus River is one of the longest rivers in the world. According to the Encyclopedia Britannica, the river's annual flow is about 2.4 trillion cubic feet -twice that of the Nile and three times that of the Tigris and Euphrates combined.
The fertile basin of the Indus River was an important center of ancient civilization. Buried cities found here, such as, Mohenjo-daro near Karachi, are at least as old as the first pyramids of Egypt.
The Indus rises in the Kailas Mountains in Tibet, near the sources of the Brahmaputra, Sutlaj, and Ghaghara, and flows northwest for over 500 miiles (800 kilometers) through Tibet and then Kashmir, between Ladakh and Zanskar mountain ranges. The main tributary of its upper course, the Shyok, joins here. Indus then turns southwest. The Kabul River from Afghanistan joins it at Attock. Then it enters the Province of Punjab in the present-day Pakistan.
Before the partition of India and Pakistan in 1947, the then Province of Punjab had control of five Indus tributaries, that is, Jhelum, Chenab, Ravi, Beas and Sutlej. These tributaries merged together at various locations to finally empty into the mighty Indus River. From Punjab, the Indus crosses the plain of the Province of Sindh, Pakistan and reaches the Arabian Sea of the Indian Ocean through a delta about 130 miles (210 kilometers) wide.
Punjab has been progressively increasing its illegal share in the waters of the Indus River since 1889. On complaints of Sindh, the then British Indian Government constituted various commissions, e.g., Anderson Commission, Rau Commission, etc. These commissions as well as the Sindh/Punjab inter-provincial agreement of 1945 admitted SindhТs primary right on all rivers of the Indus River System.
In 1960, the military regime surrendered, under Indus Basin Treaty, the three eastern rivers (Ravi, Beas and Sutlej) to India, along with SindhТs acknowledged share, without prior consent or compensation to Sindh. The military government also built Mangla Dam over Jhelum River and a huge hydropower Tarbela Dam over the Indus River. Several barrages and canals are built upstream causing severe social and ecological problems in the country. The Chashma-Jhelum Link Canal and the Taunsa-Panjnad Link Canals were also build to siphon-off more and more of SindhТs share from the Indus River, redirecting it to favorite areas of Punjab.
The dubious workings of the Indus River Systems Authority (IRSA) only add to the mistrust. In flagrant violation of inter-provincial agreement, the Chashma-Jhelum link canal (capacity 21000 cusecs) and Taunsa-Panjnad link canal (capacity 12000 cusecs) are kept flowing by the Punjab Irrigation Department for the last several years. These canals were only meant to flow at the time of surplus availability of water in River Indus to avoid flood in Sindh.
Moreover, according to the inter-provincial Water Accord of 1991, Sindh's share of Indus water for the month of April is 121,400 cusecs whereas only 30,275 cusecs were released in April 2000. The month of April is sowing season for Kharif (summer) crops through which Sindhi people generate most of their annual income. In sharp contrast to this, Punjab was able to achieve 2 percent increase in the area under cotton and other crops during the same period.
The people of Sindh believe that although there is less water in the Indus River System this year, due to the shortfall of rain and snow, the current water crisis is deliberately aggravated by the Punjab-led federal government to blackmail the people of Sindh to agree on the construction of the oft-rejected Kalabagh Dam.
The River Indus has been the mainspring of the five thousand year old Indus Valley Civilization. It plays a pivotal role in the shaping of the psyche of the people of Sindh, fashioning their society, culture and economic life. Sindhis affectionately call Indus as Darya Shah or The Great River. Any further damming of the Indus River will keep it dry below Sukkur for most of the year. With the projects like Kalabagh Dam it will be reduced from once a mighty river to mere expanse of shallow water. This will destabilize the psyche of the Sindhi people and will tantamount to cultural invasion and destruction of their ancient heritage.
While the Federal Government and Punjab continue to insist on the construction of the costly and controversial large dams on River Indus, myriad of less capital intensive and sustainable alternatives are available to ensure the increased availability of irrigation water at the agriculture farms, guaranteeing the food security, such as:
1. With better on-farm water management and lining of water carrying channels much of the sixty percent (60 MAF) of the total irrigation water, which is lost in transit, can be saved and utilized, whereas the proposed dam capacity is only 6.7 MAF. This will also prevent 100,000 acres from being waterlogged every year. Special taxes should be levied in Punjab to improve their canal system to save the precious water.
2. Promoting sustainable agriculture, organic farming and research in these fields can increase the fertility of soil resulting in increased food production per unit of the irrigation water used.
3. Without any further alteration, the Mangla dam can hold 2 MAF more water right now, and if its banks are raised 40 feet more, it can easily store more than 3 MAF of water.
4. Removing silt from the existing Tarbela dam is another feasible option. It would cost much less than projected US$ 12 -14 billion for constructing large dams and will increase its life by another 100 years. Cumulatively, these measures will increase capacity of existing dams more than what is projected after the construction of Kalabagh Dam or Basha Dam. Sindh pays 70%+ to the Federation. Punjab pays less than 13%. According to our information, over the years, significant amounts of monies have already been misappropriated by the Punjabi-led Department of Irrigation. Therefore, Sindh is being hit twice: first by getting charged for the desalting work, and then by not receiving water.
5. Other identified sites, e.g. Dasu, Thakot, Skardu and Banji, can also be considered for constructing less harmful water reservoirs or carry-over dams.
6. Smaller dams can also be built at hundreds of places in Balochistan, especially at Mirani and Hangu. These dams could irrigate vast areas of Balochistan, which alone can feed entire Pakistan.
7. Many small reservoirs could also be built in Sindh as well. For instance, Manchar, Nagarparkar and at many other places. Construction of such dams would also ameliorate the drought conditions, which often develop due to monsoon failure.
In spite of availability of cheaper and sustainable alternatives, the coercion of the people of Sindh and small provinces continues relentlessly. The insistence of the Federal Government of Pakistan to go ahead with the said project have led the people of Sindh to the belief that the actual purpose of building any large dam on Indus is to control the lifeline of the Sindh Province. This will provide a ruthless leverage to the ruling military and bureaucracy dictating the lives of 40 million people of Sindh.
Based on historical claim on Sindhu (the Indus River) by the Sindhi people, and based on modern treaties and accords signed by the legal representatives of the Sindhi people, we urge you to convince the Punjabi-led Federal Government of Pakistan to:
a. Relinquish the control of the entire Indus River System to Sindh.
b. Only the legal representatives of the people of Sindh must formulate the policies regarding the distribution of water from, and damming of the Indus River System.
c. The entire workforce to look after the Indus River System must be hired from Sindh.
d. Sindh must be allowed to deduct the monies to look after the Indus River System from the 70%+ tax it gives to the Federation each year.
e. Punjab must pay for all the water it uses from the Indus River System.

Pakistan wants to make new and large Dams and canals for retired army officials on Indus river. Due to atrocities of province of Punjab now Sindh is facing deadly shortage of water. In fact Punjab theft the water of Sindh continuously through centuries. In 1945 an accord was made in the period of Birtish rule. Now Punjab doing human rights and accord violations and making forcibly with the help of army, more large Dams and Canals on Indus river. "The term 'historic share' of water has no history. This term has never been used even in the context of the 1991 Water Accord. However, when the deliberations on the Water Accord were going on in 1991, the apportionment of water between Punjab and Sindh had to be decided. The committee decided to take the average of water apportioned between Punjab and Sindh from 1977 to 1982 for the sake of an exercise just to determine the amount required to be apportioned. But irrigation officials of the Punjab regarded it as their 'historic share' of water. According to the calculation of the so-called 'historic' right on water, the Punjab was awarded 48 MAF while Sindh got 46 MAF. But, when the 1991 Water Accord was finalized, Sindh was awarded 48.76 MAF of water. It is besides the point that the Punjab got a greater quantity of water in the accord, 55.94 MAF (almost 56 MAP.) Even then, the Punjab was not happy to see that as per the 1991 Water Accord, Sindh was drawing more water than the Punjab had been consuming during the years 1977 to 1982, i.e., 48 MAF. Basing the distribution of waters on the 'averages' of exaggerated flow of the Sindhu Darya, was bound to lead to a major confrontation between the upper and lower riparian. The waters flowing down the Sindhu vacillates between 104 MAF and 80 MAF. How can apportionment be based on the average of such a wide difference in real flows. Surely, water apportionment depends on need. As the Sindhu Darya is the only source of water for Sindh, this province must be given its actual share specially during times of severe shortages.
The Punjab, during the downswing of the cycle, has complete control of the waters in the Jhelum and Chenab rivers. In addition, the upper riparian have sweet ground water reserves of 300 MAF which they can draw on in times of shortages. Taking this reality into account, the 1945 Sindh-Punjab water agreement gave 75 per cent of the Darya's waters to Sindh. The Punjab, through its infamous link canals, could only draw water from the Sindhu during the peak flood season. That is all. Last year, during Nawaz Sharif's chauvinist rule, his province unilaterally opened the link canals in late May - early June which negatively affected agricultural output income in Sindh. This should have given the upper riparians enough sense to see the logic in the1945 Water Agreement. But, then, theft based on greed has its own perverted logic, which if repeated often enough will be believed. (By: Anwar Pirzado)
The quantity of even 10 maf provisionally allocated under the accord is available only for 24 out of 72 years as calculated under the title, 'Kharif availability'. Thus it is clear that the required quantity of water for the substance of the environment cannot become available under the circumstances. It is not possible that this position can be improved by denying the allocations/commitments of the operational projects or by leaving the storages unfilled. However, it is important that at least further deterioration in the ecological conditions must be prevented. The best that can be done to save the environment from complete devastation is to plan future projects so that the minimum required discharge of 300,000 cusecs is available for outflow to sea at least for as much time as it is available, after meeting the current Kharif demand. (By: Zulfiqar Halepoto)
Pakistan grows around 18 million tons of wheat per year and imports roughly 2 million tons. The average yield per acre is 0.81 tons against 0.97 tons in neighboring India and 0.87 tons for the world. So is it for each and every crop in Pakistan. A few administrative steps like streamlining the supply of quality seed at proper time; sparing a pittance for research on improved seeds in our excellent agricultural universities; eliminating the use of spurious pesticides, making fertilizers available at affordable rates and mounting a dedicated training campaign for our Haris in the proper use of pesticides and fertilizers, could increase the yield per acre, while costing only a fraction of the Rs. 500 billion needed for the Kalabagh dam. And this is only the empirical side. The effect on our agrarian society and agricultural economy when all these concerted inputs are applied at the designated sectors will be tremendous. Of the 105 MAF at present made available at the canal heads an estimated 60% is lost through evaporation and seepage as follows: 15 MAF is lost in major river beds, 10 MAF in canals and minors, 10 MAF in watercourses and 25 MAF on farms. (By: Abrar Kazi)"

We strongly appeal to World bank, Asian bank & UNO, help us to stop atrocities and violations of accord of 1945 from the side of Punjab. If kalabagh dam and Greater Thal canal will be build, Sindh province will be in danger, due to destruction of Indus delta and deadly shortage of water.

Pakistan wants to make new and large Dams and canals for retired army officials on Indus river. Due to atrocities of province of Punjab now Sindh is facing deadly shortage of water. In fact Punjab theft the water of Sindh continuously from 1945. In 1945 an accord was made in the period of British rule. Now Punjab doing human rights violations and making with force of army more large Dams and Canals on Indus river. We protested it the irony is that there came a time when we launched a struggle to get water share as per the 1991 accord. We strongly demand here to world over, to stop atrocities and violations of accord of 1945 from the side of Punjab. If kalabagh dam and Greater Thal canal will build, Sindh province will be in danger, due to deadly shortage of water.