Climate change and role of anthropogenic impact on the stability of Indus deltaic Eco-region

Paper Details

Research Paper 01/06/2017
Views (274) Download (10)
current_issue_feature_image
publication_file

Climate change and role of anthropogenic impact on the stability of Indus deltaic Eco-region

Mohsin Muzaffar, Asif Inam, Mahmood Ahmed Hashmi, Khalid Mehmood, Ibrahim Zia, Syed Imran Hasaney
J. Bio. Env. Sci.10( 6), 164-176, June 2017.
Certificate: JBES 2017 [Generate Certificate]

Abstract

The Indus River is one of the major river systems of the world and the principal contributor in the creation of the Indus Fan – second largest sediment body in the ocean basins, to talling ~5 x 106 km3. Recent geological and geophysical information obtained from the Pakistan margin suggests that the Indus River and Fan system was initiated shortly after India-Asia collision at ~55 Ma. The Indus River, is currently contributing a fraction of fresh water or sediment in to the Arabian Sea. Consequently, the seawater intrusion has resulted in tidal intrusion in the prime agricultural land in the Indus Deltaic region. Extensive use of fresh water for irrigation in recent years has caused a decline in the down stream discharge of the Indus River. Construction of barrages, dams, and link canals has further reduced the freshwater flow downstream Kotri Barrage from 146 MAF/year to less than 10 MAF/year. In the northeast monsoon period Indus River has practically zero discharge below Kotri Barrage.  As a consequence, the river below Kotri shows increased braiding and sand bar development. Sediment passing down the system tends to be deposited in the section south of Kotri, rather than maintaining the growth of the delta. As a result the Indus Delta that used to occupy an area of about 6,180 km2 consisting of creeks, mudflats and mangrove forest is now reduced to 1,192 km2 since the construction of dams and barrages on the Indus River. Pakistan like other parts of the world is also facing a problem associated with sea level rise along with related issues such as coastal erosion and inundation. The analysis of historical tidal data shows that Pakistan coastal sea level has risen in the same way as the global sea level due to global climate change. Besides eustatic sea level rise, the dominance of local factor like subsidence of land may be a catastrophe for low-lying areas. Indus Delta could experience a relative sea level rise of up to 8-10 mm/yr as per the projected rate of global component of sea-level rise of up to 6 mm/yr in the next century. To mitigate the impacts of rising ground water and associated problem of water logging and salinity, a network of drainage canals was constructed down in the Indus Basin to drain saline ground water into the Arabian Sea. The drainage system has been less effective due to low gradient/flat topography and it has in fact resulted in the seawater intrusion into the link canals up to about 80 km upstream.

VIEWS 8

Ahmad N. 1993. Water Resources of Pakistan, Lahore.

Asianics Agro-Development International (Pvt) Ltd. 2000. Tarbela Dam and related aspects of the Indus River Basin, Pakistan, A WCD (World Commission on Dams) case study prepared as an input to the World Commission on Dams, Cape Town.

Bhatti MA. 1999. Water Resource System of Pakistan: Status and Issues. Pakistan Science Foundation, Islamabad, ISBN: 969-8040-14-5, 72 p.

Bilal U Haq. 1999. Past, Present and Future of the Indus Delta. pp. 132-140, In: The Indus River (Biodiversity, Resources, Humankind), Azra Meadows & P. Meadows (Eds.) Oxford University Press, 441 p.

Clift PD, Layne G, Shimizu N, Gaedicke C, Schlüter HU, Clark M, Amjad S. 2001. 55 million years of Tibetan and Karakoram evolution recorded in the Indus Fan: EOS (Earth and space sciences), American Geophysical Union 81, 277-281 P.

ESCAP. 1996. Coastal Environmental Management Plan for Pakistan, New York.

FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization). 2001. FAOSTAT agriculture data. www.apps.fao.org

Hassan, Arif. June 30,1992. “Death of Indus Delta,” In Down to Earth. Nairobi, Kenya: RIOD.

International Union for Conservation of Nature. 1991. Possible effects of the Indus water accord on the Indus Delta Ecosystem. The Korangi Ecosystem Project issues Paper No. 1.

Khan AR.  2001. Analysis of hydro-meteorological time series: Searching evidence for climatic change in the Upper Indus Basin. Lahore, Pakistan: International Water Management Institute. (IWMI working paper 23).

Kijine JW, Vander Velde EJ Jr. 1992. Irrigation management implications of Indus basin climate change. Case Study, IIMI (International Irrigation Management Institute), Lahore.

Meynell PJ, Qureshi MT. 1993. Sustainable Management of the Mangrove Ecosystem in the Indus Delta in: Moser, M and Van Vessen, J (Eds) Proc. Int. Symp. on wetland and water fowl conservation in south and west Asia. Karachi 22-126 P.

Mohsin Muzaffar, Asif Inam, Mahmood Hashmi, Khalid Mehmood, Ibrahim Zia.  2017.  Impact of reduction in upstream fresh water and sediment discharge in Indus deltaic region. Journal of Biodiversity and Environmental Sciences (JBES), 10(4), 208-217.

National Institute of Oceanography. 2001. Feasibility study to restore and develop Bundal and Kiprianwala Islands. Study conducted for Pakistan Defence Officers Housing Authoriy, Karachi.

National Institute of Oceanography. 2002. Bed Level Survey of LBOD (Left band Outfall Drain) Tidal Link, KPOD (Kadhan Pateji Outfall Drain), DPOD (Dhoro Puran Outfall Drain) and Shah Samando Creek at outfall of Tidal Link by Echo-sounding. Report submitted to: SCARP’s Monitoring Organization WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority), Hyderabad, Sindh.

Panhwar MH. 1999. Seepage of water of the River Indus and occurrence of fresh ground water in Sindh.  pp. 180-197, In: The Indus River (Biodiversity, Resources, Humankind), Azra Meadows & P. Meadows (Eds.) Oxford University Press, 441 p.

Tarar RN. 1982. Water Resources Investigation in Pakistan with the help of LANDSAT Imagery – Snow Surveys 1975-1978. Hydrological Aspects of Alpine and High Mountain Areas. Proceedings of the Exeter Symposium, IAHS International Association of Hydrological Sciences) Publication 138, 177-190.

Warsi M. 1991. Indus and Other River Basin of Pakistan, Stream Flow Records, Case Study Report. WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority).

Wells JT, Coleman M. 1984. Deltaic morphology and sedimentology, with special reference to the Indus River Delta. In: Haq, B.U., and J.D. Milliman, (Eds.), Marine Geology and Oceanography of Arabian Sea and Coastal Pakistan. Von Nostrand Reinhold Company, New York, 85‑100 P.

World Bank.  1992.  Reservoir Maintenance Facilities Project (Project Completion Report), Agricultural Operational Division, South Asia Region, Report 10725, 1992.