Writing: Mumtaz Hashmi
This year, Pakistan has faced the worst floods in history, and it has caused a lot of damage throughout the country, especially in Punjab, due to which it has been facing a very serious situation.
At this critical juncture, all state resources and institutions have played a very important role in the struggle to avoid this disaster and have performed their duties with utmost dedication and bravery within limited resources. Now all energies are focused on the rehabilitation of the victims and after the flood waters receded in some places, the process of returning the victims to their homes has also started. At this time, the work of assessing the damage caused by this natural disaster has also started. The country’s resources are insufficient to compensate for this loss and for this, the international community should contribute to it because Pakistan’s role in the natural disasters that are coming due to climate change is zero and the responsibility for this lies entirely with the developed countries, which played a major role in creating environmental pollution and countries like Pakistan are paying the price. These countries should come forward to provide finance and technologies for this restoration process and to deal with these natural disasters in the future. Along with this, philanthropists also need to contribute to it.
Now the need of the hour is that we should formulate a future plan of action to deal with natural disasters like floods. For this, the services of experts from different fields should be sought and proper discussions should be held on them so that progress can be made towards a permanent and sustainable solution.
The focus of the discussion at the moment is the construction of dams, which is not appropriate, all feasible methods need to be considered.
Whenever we face floods or energy crisis, some quarters start advocating for the construction of big dams like Kalabagh Dam. Even some engineers are involved in this campaign. The reason is obvious that they are not aware of the modern-day research on water resource management. Today’s research has proven that dams create more problems rather than solving them. Therefore, modern research discourages the construction of big dams and implements other solutions, which are more environmentally, economically and ecologically viable. The best way to avoid floods and water storage consists of land storage techniques and technologies. These techniques will be used specifically on the ground conditions of each area.
Most of the flood problems in our country arise as a result of blocking the natural flow of rivers and creating barriers. Rapid development along the banks of rivers and construction of highways/roads are the main factors in creating such conditions. We do not have environmental and ecological studies and implementation of their standards in our development projects and this leads us to disaster in a changing climate.
Now the need is that the federal government should form a committee consisting of people who have experience and expertise in water resource management to develop solutions to the problems.
Below are some research highlights of dam damage, which will be helpful in understanding the problems. The focus of this research is as follows:
“Dams alter ecosystems
Water is life — and since dams block water, that impacts life downstream, both for ecosystems and people.
Downstream ecosystems rely not only on water, but also on sediment, both of which are held back by big dams. As solid materials build up in a manmade reservoir, downstream land becomes less fertile and riverbeds can become deeper or even erode away Rivers carry sediment that feeds the fish, it feeds the entire vegetation along the river. So, when you stop sediment flowing freely down the streams, you have a dead river."
And ecosystems may have adapted to natural flooding, which dams take away.
Mega-dams also often have a large footprint on land upstream. Aside from displacing human communities, flooding to create a reservoir also kills plants, and leaves animals to drown or find new homes. Reservoirs can also further fragment valuable habitat and cut off migratory corridors.
Dams reduces biodiversity and causes extinction
Aquatic species, particularly fish, are vulnerable to the impacts of dams. Moran says the Itaipu Dam, which was constructed on the border between Paraguay and Brazil in the 1970s and 1980s, resulted in a 70 percent loss of biodiversity.
"On the Tucuruí Dam that was built in the 80s in the Amazon," he added, "there was a 60% drop in productivity of fish."
Many fish species rely on the ability to move about freely in a river, be it to seek food or return to where they were born. Migratory species are badly affected by the presence of dams.
Dams contribute to climate change (and are affected by it)
As reservoirs fill, upstream forests are flooded, eliminating their function as carbon sinks. As the drowned vegetation decomposes, decaying plants in manmade reservoirs release methane, a powerful greenhouse gas. That makes reservoirs sources of emissions — particularly those in tropical forests, where there is dense growth. It’s estimated that greenhouse gas emissions from dams amount to about a billion tons annually, making it a significant global source.
And as the climate changes, more frequent and prolonged drought means dams will capture less water, resulting in lower electricity production. Countries dependent on hydropower will be especially vulnerable as temperatures keep rising.
Moran described a vicious circle, for example in Brazil, which gets 60 to 70% of its energy from hydropower: "If you wipe out half the rainforest, there will a loss of half the rainfall. And then there won't be enough water to provide the amount of power from those dams," he explained.
Dams reduce water quality
Manmade reservoirs trap fertilizers that run into the water from surrounding land. In addition, in some developing countries, sewage flows directly into the reservoirs. This kind of pollution can result in algae blooms that suck the oxygen out of the water, making it acidic and potentially harmful to people and animals.
Still water in large manmade lakes is warm at the top and cold at the bottom, which can also affect water quality. While warm water promotes the growth of harmful algae, the cold water that is often released through turbines from the bottom of a reservoir may contain damagingly high mineral concentrations.
In some cases, water in manmade reservoirs is of such bad quality that it is not even fit to drink.
Dams waste water
Since more surface area of the water gets exposed to the sun, reservoirs result in much more evaporation than the natural flow of the river before that dam existed. It’s estimated at least 7% of the total amount of freshwater needed for human activities evaporates from the world’s reservoirs every year.
This effect is made worse in hot regions, Moran pointed out. "Certainly if you had a reservoir in a tropical area with high temperatures, there is going to be a lot of evaporation," he said. And big reservoirs “are, of course, evaporating constantly
Reservoirs are also a haven for invasive plant species, and weed-covered reservoir banks can lead to evapotranspiration — or the transfer of water from the land to the atmosphere through evaporation from soil and transpiration from plants. Such evapotranspiration amounts to six times more than the evaporation from the water’s surface. And there is even evidence that dams increase water use and promote water waste by creating a false sense of water security.
In the face of dwindling global freshwater resources, some question whether dams should be reconsidered.
So what are the alternatives?
The evidence is damning. But if mega-dams have so many harmful environmental effects, what are the alternatives? Although some green groups point to small hydropower as being more ecologically sound, Moran is skeptical. "A dam is a dam - it's blocking the fish, it's blocking the sediment."
He pointed to the need to consider not just how to maximize energy production, but also maintain ecological productivity. One option he cited is the use of in-stream turbines.
And many environment advocates agree that other renewable energies such as solar and wind can provide clean electricity at a far lower environmental cost.”
As far as I am concerned, dams alone are not the solution. They are neither a good option for water storage nor for preventing floods nor for generating cheap electricity. Their cost eliminates their usefulness, so large dams are no longer preferred around the world.
However, there is no harm in building small reservoirs. Because they do not cause much damage in a flood situation. Whereas large dams can prove to be very dangerous in a flood situation because after their capacity, water must be released from them.
The world Is now moving towards cheap solar power and is giving priority to the use of groundwater.
As for the excessive loss of water in the sea, there is a need to consider storage methods in the relevant areas so that this water can be managed to go to the sea during droughts and at other times it can be used for irrigation and other needs.
For this, there is an urgent need to adopt other cheap and immediately available sources.
There have been differences in water distribution in different provinces in Pakistan, which could not be resolved despite the water distribution formula. Now, modern technologies are being used in this regard and a telemetering system is being installed and according to sources, it will start working fully next year. After this, differences on fair distribution of water quota among the provinces will end and harmony will be created on the methods of water resource reserves.
It has now been proven that under climate change, Pakistan will have to face severe flood situations every third year.
In this regard, the 2022 floods and the recent floods have identified all the places that have severely affected different areas of the country. In the light of this information, experts need to design appropriate projects to protect these areas from flood situations in the future.
In which temporary canals will have to be made from the rivers connected to these areas, which will not only store flood water during this period but will also become a means of protecting the adjacent areas from flood disasters.
In addition, there is a need to work on projects to utilize the unlimited natural water reserves available underground, which can make millions of acres of land cultivable.
Therefore, without wasting time, water experts and other relevant institutions need to work together to formulate a coordinated and workable action plan.
Finally, there is a need to make the relief operation for the flood victims coordinated and sustainable.
In this regard, a coordination cell should be established in the Provincial Disaster Management Authority at the provincial level, in which renowned welfare organizations such as Edhi, Akhuwat, Al-Khidmat, Chehpa, etc. should be included with this authority, and relief operations should be planned together so that different organizations in different areas can be assigned different tasks and their regular monitoring can be done, which will make it possible to provide relief equally to different areas. The public should also be kept informed about them through media releases and thus a tendency will be created among the public to participate in it.
It Is hoped that the authorities will consider these reports and will be able to make systematic and appropriate plans to deal with floods and other natural disasters in the future. In Sha Allah.
0 Comments