📍 Badin, Thatta, Sujawal – The Parched Lands of the Indus Delta
The once-thriving Laar region, the fertile Indus Delta of lower Sindh, is now a shadow of its former self. What was once a lush agricultural belt sustained by the mighty Indus River is turning into a cracked wasteland. Canals upstream are drying out the lower stretches, and if more are constructed, the region may become uninhabitable within decades.
Across Badin, Sujawal, and Thatta, people—especially women—wait for hours beside shallow pits, hoping for groundwater seepage to provide enough water for their families to drink. This is not a scene from a remote desert—it is happening in the heart of Sindh’s historical breadbasket.
“We used to grow three crops a year here. Now we can’t even find water to drink,” says Haleema, a 42-year-old mother from Shah Bandar.
Agriculture has collapsed. Once self-sufficient farming families are migrating or falling into debt. Saltwater intrusion from the Arabian Sea has poisoned remaining fertile lands due to the reduced freshwater flow downstream of Kotri Barrage.
📉 The Data Tells a Grim Story
- Over 80% of water from the Indus River is diverted before it reaches the delta.
- According to Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), the Kotri downstream region has received less than 10 million acre-feet (MAF) annually, far below the minimum requirement of 27 MAF to prevent saltwater intrusion and sustain livelihoods.
- In the last decade, groundwater levels have dropped by over 2 meters in Sujawal and Badin districts.
- The World Bank warns that sea intrusion now threatens 1.2 million acres of farmland in lower Sindh.
More upstream canal projects, including those in Punjab and northern Sindh, are cutting off water from reaching the delta. The push for hydropower and irrigation expansion in the upper Indus Basin ignores the ecological collapse it causes downstream.
The 1991 Water Accord has been repeatedly violated, and no effective water accounting system exists to monitor real-time distribution. Meanwhile, powerful feudal and industrial lobbies upstream benefit at the expense of coastal communities.
#Sindh, especially the #IndusDelta, is bleeding silently. If urgent action isn’t taken, a humanitarian and ecological crisis looms on Pakistan’s horizon. Every canal carved upstream could mean death downstream.
🔗 Stay informed. Raise your voice. Demand justice for the Delta. #NoMoreCanalsOnIndusRiver