Islamabad31 minutes ago
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The saline water of the Arabian Sea is now filling in the Indus Delta. Due to this, drinking water crisis has also arisen here.
Pakistan’s largest river is on the verge of ending life in the delta of Indus. Indus water has been stopped in canals and dams in the top areas.
Due to this, water reaching Sindh province and delta region has almost stopped. Since the 1950s, the water flowing in the Indus Delta has fallen by 80%.
On the other hand, the saline water of the Arabian Sea has entered it. Due to this, the land here has become salty. Farming has stopped. The population of fish has come down and the life of shrimp-cakes is in crisis.
The delta once had 17 small rivers, marshy land, mangrove forests and mud filled plains filled with fish. Today, that soil is salty, water is not poisonous and land worth living.
According to the Sindh government, 80% of the water is not drinkable here. The saline water of the sea has now penetrated inside the ground.
According to a report, 86% of the mangroves has been over since the 1960s. This has led to a decline of 80% in the population of fish.
20 years population declined by 12 lakhs
According to government data, in the last two decades, more than 12 lakh people have left delta and migrated to cities like Karachi.
The Pakistan Fisherfok Forum says that thousands of fishermen families from coastal areas have been displaced.
54 -year -old Habibullah Khatti has allowed his Abdullah Mirbahar village to leave. Before leaving the village, he saluted his mother’s tomb. They say,
The saline water has spread all around. There are now just four houses left in the village.
Habibullah Khatti prayed at his mother’s grave before leaving the village.
Most of the villages have now swallowed the sea in Kharo Chan area with 40 villages. In 1981, the population of this area was 26 thousand, which decreased to only 11 thousand in 2023.
Protests in Sindh against stopping Indus water
A coalition called ‘Save the Indus River Movement’ has started protesting in Sindh province since February. This includes environmental workers, local communities, NGOs and policy-makers.
The agitators say that these canals will stop the water of the Indus river up, which will create a crisis on farming in Sindh and especially Indus Delta.
Women’s organization Sindhiani Tehreek activist Maryam Gopang says,
We are nothing without our Indus River. If this does not happen, then we will die.
Indus river water is being sent to 6 canals
6 canals are being built in 4 provinces by pulling water from the largest river Indus in Pakistan. This project is running under Green Pakistan Initiative.
Its cost is about 28 thousand crores. The water from these canals will be used to make desert lands cultivable.
This water will be taken from the Indus River or its barrages. The largest canal in this will be built in the Cholistan desert of Punjab.
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