Release of poisonous water from Punjab posing threat for Ghotki people

The flow of poisonous water from Punjab into Sindh has seen a sharp rise this week, posing a serious environmental and ecological threat for hundreds of thousands of people living in Sindh areas, bordering Punjab.
The toxic water of various factories like sugar mills, textile mills, and fertilisers plants in Rahimyar Khan, Sadiqabad, Bahawlpur Punjab is being released to Sindh through three to four main drains and Nullah off and on since 1994, which have marred agriculture and ecology in two district of Sindh: Ghotki and Khairpur Mirs.
Since last week the flow of this poisonous water has once again increased, destroying thousands of hectares of irrigated land of district Ghotki. The gushing toxic water has invaded fields and completely destroyed standing cotton crops in about 20 Dehs of Ghotki district, including Deh Simno, Deh Gurkhani, Deh Chacharki, Deh Khenjoo, Deh Sutyaro Chak no 5, Deh Sutyaro Chak No 1, and Deh Maroowala.
It may be recalled that in 1996 about 700 tube-wells were installed in districts of Punjab near Sindh to pump out saline water. This harmful water is also being released to Sindh through Seem Nullahs (saline water drains), which had made a very large area of cultivated land in Sindh barren and salty.
The harms of this toxic water are just not limited to agriculture but hundreds of cattle heads have been died due to drinking of this water. These livestock included goats, sheep, buffaloes, camels and cows. To escape this loss the poor villagers of affected areas are migrated to other areas of the province. The area people have been crying against this massive economic, ecological and environmental calamity, but their protest falls on deaf ears.
Some three months back, the Environmental Protection Agency Sindh had announced to send a team to the area to collect facts and figures, but this team had not yet finalised its report.
In this regard, Deputy Director of the Environmental Protection Agency Sukkur Waqar Hussein Phulpoto said that a high-level research team was organised by this department, which started work in this area.
He said that samples of poison water were sent to labourites of Karachi and Islamabad. He said that this work should have started long ago to avert this destruction. He said that the final result of laboratory analysis of water was still awaited, However, this water was completely poisonous as a lot of dangerous chemicals were found in it. The release of this water has also destroyed two historical graveyards of the area: Noor Pir graveyard, Lal Qabrustan, and one historical village Vijnot.
Leaders of local social and political parties have been concerned over the matter since long, but no any authority has yet taken its notice.
In recent past, an action committee was formed to initiate new efforts to get solved this serious issue. In this regard committee members including Advocate Jam Abdul Fattah Samejo, M. Suleman Mahar and Sikander Ali Bhutto called on ex-district nazim Ghotki Sardar Ali Gohar Khan Mahar and apprised him of the grave situation.
He assured the committee that he would take steps to divert attention of high authorities towards this issue, but still no progress is seen.
The release of huge quantities of toxic water into agricultural areas of Sindh is a very serious matter, and if not solved promptly, it might have dangerous consequences on political side, besides economic, environmental and ecological ones.