Cumulative impact assessment for Sindh barrages

Abstract

There are 19 barrages constructed on the Indus River to divert water to irrigate command areas for crop production and for flood control. The Guddu barrage is one such barrages, which requires rehabilitation and is the subject of the current study. There are two barrages, Sukkur and Kotri which are located downstream of Guddu barrage, whose impacts are also considered as part of the cumulative impact assessment. The objective of the study is to evaluate the cumulative impact as a result of the rehabilitation of the barrage. The construction of barrages and diversion of water for irrigation has resulted in negative and positive impacts on many valued environmental components including: (i) fragmentation of dolphins’ habitat and extirpation of dolphins in many river sections of the Indus and its tributaries, (ii) restriction of hilsa migration has resulted in drastic reduction in commercially important hilsa fish catch and its spawning area, and (iii) transformation of the arid barren lands of Sindh in to vast agricultural lands, which has resulted in significant socioeconomic benefits to Sindh.