THE current floods could be a boon for Sindh’s depleting riverine forests, which are dependent either on flood waters or on fresh supplies from the Indus.
A significant portion of the forests has been lost as low-income communities living in katcha areas cut trees virtually unchecked to use wood as a source of fuel and livelihood.
Officials consider the current flood waters insufficient for submerging the entire riverine forest area, which stretches over 600,000 acres on both sides of the Indus between Guddu and Kotri barrages.
Taking advantage of the current flows, however, the provincial forest authority has decided to go for the regeneration of forests in inundated areas. Around 40,000 acres of riverine forest area is likely to submerge as a result of the present floods.
The drive for the regeneration of forests would cover Raunti, Old Gublo, Keti Shah, Keti Abad, Bagar Ji forests — located between downstream Guddu and upstream Sukkur— and Bhaunr, Kundha, Matiari and Miani forests between the Sukkur and Kotri reaches. Similarly, sites of Veeran and Marho riverine forests downstream in Kotri would also be covered.
Besides maintaining a natural ecosystem — wildlife, deforestation and vegetation — the riverine forests serve as a natural barrier against river dykes, avert soil erosion and break up the speed of flood waters, which do not directly hit main embankments on both sides of the River Indus and minimise the chances of breaches.
