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Detailed Ecological Assessment Report 2008 – Keti Bunder
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The ‘Detailed Ecological Assessment Study Report’ by the Indus for All
Programme provides extensive and updated (April 2008) status of various
ecological aspects of the Programme’s four priority sites. These include a
summer survey (June to July) and winter survey (November to February) of
vegetation, reptiles and amphibians, avi-fauna, mammals (which have been
divided into large and small), fisheries (divided into freshwater and marine) waterquality
and limnology which includes phytoplankton, zooplankton and
physicochemical properties of the water at the programme sites. The floral
aspects of the study is available in a separate report titles
To ensure the authenticity of the reports, maintain the level of scientific approach
and install a sense of ownership at government level, a large proportion of the
consultancy’s were outsourced to Pakistan Natural History Museum, Zoological
Survey of Pakistan, Mehran University of Engineering and Technology, University
of Karachi and University of Sindh.
This detailed ecological assessment is planned under of the completion of
Programme Output A.1.2.3 – “Detailed ecological assessment of Keti Bunder”
Keti Bunder: Keti Bunder is located at a distance of about 200 km SE of Karachi
in Thatta district of Sindh province. It is a Taluka (Tehsil) of Thatta district and
consists of a total of 42 dehs (cluster of villages) that spread over a total area of
60,969 hectare. It is believed that the sea has engulfed 28 dehs and the total
affected area in Keti Bunder is around 46,137 hectare (WWF 2004). Hoekstra et
al. (1997) mentioned that Keti Bunder Tehsil includes a total of 19 Dehs and 29
villages while total human population is around 12,000.
Historically Keti Bunder was a port city before the construction of any dams and
barrages on Indus river. At that time the river was navigable up to Thatta and
even upwards.
At present, it is one of the major towns along the Pakistan coastline that is facing
environmental degradation and loss of livelihood opportunities for the locals.
Local elders mention that the location of Keti Bunder town has changed thrice
during the past 70 years due to progressive intrusion of the seawater. There are
four major creeks in the area viz. Chann, Hajamro, Khobar and Kangri with
innumerable small creeks. For sweet water (drinking and farming), Keti Bunder
and other coastal region depend entirely on Indus River and its distributaries.
It is located in Indus Delta experiencing warm monsoon climatic regime. Mild
winters extend from November to February while summer season extends from
March to October. Most of the annual precipitation falls during monsoon, which is
erratic in distribution. Mean annual rainfall is 220 mm. January is the coolest
month with minimum temperature of 9.5 o C while in June – July minimum and
maximum temperatures range from 23 o C – 26 o C and from 30 o C - 36 o C,
respectively. Humidity is generally higher in the morning than in the afternoon. It
also varies from place to place depending upon the proximity to the sea. Wind is
another important feature of coastal zone. It is variable and is faster during
summer (7.4 to 20.5 km/h) than winter (Qureshi 1985).
Before construction of upstream barrages, river water used to reach the tail end
during low tides round the year. However, upstream dams and barrages have
WWF Pakistan – Indus for All Programme xv