KARACHI: Hundreds of affected acres have been reclaimed from man-made salinity that swept across large swathes of land after a sugar mill complex caused the floodwaters to trap in Dighri area of Sindh, a grower said on Friday.
“This land was mostly affected in flood of 2011 when rainwater had no way to drain into Left Bank Outfall Drain (LBOD). The floodwater had remained in the lands since then resulting in salinity,” Chaudhry Muhammad Anwar, vice chairman Farmers Organization Potho Minor, Dighri, Sindh, told The News.
“Thousands of more acres of land are expected to come under cultivation down the line.”
The total command area of Potho Minor is 8,064 acres, but due to salinity, only 3,100 acres of land remained under cultivation. Historically, 90 percent of the total command area land remained cultivated and fertile till 1992.
Arable lands started turning into wastelands after Dighri Sugar Mills was built in the way of natural floodwater flow in 1988. Later, the disastrous floods of 2011 proved to the last nail in the coffin.
Anwar said Laar Humanitarian and Development Project (LHDP) has managed to establish five drains that will discharge the saline water of lands into the LBOD that carries it towards the sea passing from several districts of Sindh on left bank of the Indus River.
The official said this achievement would not have been possible without the assistance as well efforts of Sindh government, Sindh Irrigation and Drainage Authority (SIDA), Nara Canal Area Water Board Mirpur Khas and farmers’ associations.
“The LHDP through another initiative few years back had reclaimed thousands of acres of land in Badin district, which was devastated by a cyclone in 1999,” the official said adding, the technical and financial assistance was provided by Trocaire, an Ireland based development organisation.
He said beside developing drains, water conservation methods were also applied. “Potho Minor of Dighri serves as the model, where 19 watercourses have been rehabilitated,” Anwar added.
He said livestock of the area, mostly buffaloes, entered into the minor from embankments that were vulnerable. “Some points have been rehabilitated, while in order to keep the water branches safe, the farmers have constructed water reservoirs that provide drinking water and serve as bathing tubs for buffaloes,” the farmers’ representative added.
Anwar said floodwater stood in the lands and several areas had no discharge points to the main LBOD. “Current initiative has made us hopeful of getting our lands back and cultivating them,” Anwar said.
He said scarcity of water was another issue in the area, as Potho Minor was a tail-end minor of West Branch of Twin Jamrao Canal that got water from Nara Canal, the biggest canal of Sukkur Barrage. “Influential landlords draw more water from the upper canals while tail-enders suffer from water shortages,” he pointed out. Womenfolk remain a part of the agriculture, as they work alongside with the male members of the community. In order to facilitate them, 10 washing bases are also constructed on Potho Minor.
He said farmers were not only provided with the information on conservation methods but also trainings to help them protect their water resources.
“After the training, I can now measure the water discharge, even at the canal level,” Anwar told The News.
Farmers have also been connected with Sindh Agriculture Extension and model farms of wheat have been established at the land, which was completely barren a year-ago.
“I have reclaimed my land from the saline water. I am growing crops on 16 acres, which were lying barren last year,” said Shakeel Ahmed, general secretary Farmers Organization.
“If we get tube wells to discharge the saline water, process of reclamation of land will become faster.”
Ahmed said establishment of Dighri Sugar Mills in 1988 blocked the natural flow of saline water. “I own 87 acres, which were 100 percent cultivatable till 1988 and with the stoppage of flow of water, it reduced to around 18 acres in 2010 and the situation worsened in 2011,” Ahmed said and added that since the blockade of water with the construction of Dighri Sugar Mills in 1988, it is the first time when drains have been developed to discharge the saline water.
Another farmer said the development of five field drains was the sole initiative of the LHDP. “These field drains carry saline water to sub drains, they throw it into main drains and then main drains merge it with the LBOD,” he said.
These five drains will discharge water from 2,100 acres of land and drainage of more than 500 houses.
Growers argued that development of industries might have worked for some areas, but not for the people of Dighri, as construction of Dighri Sugar Mills resulted in endangering more than 5,000 acres of land.
Shahid Ali, a progressive farmer and school a teacher, said urbanisation has also affected the agricultural lands. “Sarfaraz Wah used to carry away rainwater but urbanisation of Dighri and illegal constructions completely blocked the path of rain or floodwaters,” Ali said. He added that now that water stays in the lands and as a result only 10 percent of 10,000 acres was cultivable.
Moreover, migration to urban areas has also become a major issue, as hundreds of small land owners and peasants had lost their lands to salinity.
Farmers are now hopeful to return to their lands as six more such drains have been planned in 2018.
