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This study examines the impact of an elaborated irrigation system on the natural resources and society in the deltaic part of the Indus River in Pakistan. Time series information was collected to analyze the ecological and natural resource dynamics, and their impacts on the structure and quality of the occupations of the people in the Indus delta during pre- and post-irrigation system development periods. The information was collected through literature review, reconnaissance, structured questionnaire survey, focus group discussions, and interviews. The findings revealed that the expansion of the irrigation system and the resulting reduction in the downstream flow had their differential impacts on the various segments of downstream ecology and society. Some of the resources, for example the agricultural mudflats have been adversely affected due to the accelerated seawater intrusion that severely impinged on the paddy farms. On the other natural resources like mangroves, the impacts had been both negative and positive. On one hand, the diversity of the mangroves species had deteriorated while on other hand, the mangroves have benefited from such development because of the alleviated pressure of camel grazing as a result of the occupational change on the part of the camel herders. Furthermore, changes in the hydrological regimes had forced the paddy farmers and camel herders to switch to fishing as an alternative source of employment and income. Considering that currently about 87% people are already engaged primarily in marine fishery, this scenario is threatening the sustainability of the fishery resources as well as the livelihoods of all, the traditional and converted fishermen. The findings of the study are therefore meant to advocate the different treatments which should be accorded to the various segments of the downstream ecology and society during the planning of any remedial irrigation projects in order to mitigate the adverse impacts of the previous irrigation development strategies and of any water resources development to be carried out in the future.

Ever increasing demand for food, electricity and domestic water use due to rapid growth in population has remained a key challenge for Pakistan since the 1950s. The country has invested heavily in water engineering projects to establish the world’s largest gravity-driven irrigation network on the Indus [Bandaragoda (2006); Bengali (2009)]. Besides fulfilling a significant proportion of the country’s energy demand from hydro-power installations, the system irrigates about 14 million hectares of farmlands and supports agriculture sector to contribute about 21 percent of the GDP, 60 percent of the exports and 45 percent of the labour force [Bhutta (2006); Pakistan (2012)]. Amidst its development, the elaborated irrigation facility has left a deep footprint on productivity and environment of the basin itself in the form of the rising levels of water-logging and salinity and the degradation of deltaic ecology [Briscoe and Qamar (2009); Memon and Thapa (2011)]. By the 1960s, every year about 40,000 hectares of fertile farmlands were turning into wastelands because of water-logging and salinity in the basin [Bhutta (2006); Mulk (2009); Qureshi, et al. (2008)]. Therefore, the country had no option but to develop a remedial drainage network of thousands of kilometres of drains and numerous tube wells parallel to the existing irrigation infrastructure.

BackgroundWhile there is a large literature on the magnitude of price elasticity of cigarette demand, less is known about the same for chewed tobacco. Moreover, the studies on cigarette demand in Pakistan tend to ignore the heterogeneity in the smoking behaviour. This study estimates price elasticity for cigarette and chewed tobacco demand across different income groups, provinces and regions; and use these coefficients for simulating Pakistan’s tax policy and its impact on revenue and health outcomes.MethodDeaton model was applied on the 2015–2016 Household Integrated Income and Consumption Survey dataset to estimate price elasticities of different tobacco products.ResultsThe demand for cigarettes is unitary elastic (−1.06), suggesting that a 1% increase in cigarette price would reduce its consumption by 1.06%. On the other hand, the demand for chewed tobacco is relatively inelastic (−0.55). Provincially, the own-price elasticity of cigarettes is negative and significant for all but Kyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) province; whereas that of the chewed tobacco is negative and significant only for KP and Balochistan. Besides, the price elasticity of demand for both tobacco products is negative and significant only for lower income group and the rural region. The tax simulations favour a two-tiered tax system over the existing three-tiered system as the former will bring significantly better tax revenue and health outcomes.ConclusionsWhile confirming the effectiveness of tax policies in curbing tobacco use, this study concludes that higher tobacco taxes could increase tax revenue and improve public health in Pakistan.