Saturday, March 29, 2025
Indus Delta Submerged, 80% Water Lost; 40 Villages Destroyed, 1.2 Million Homeless – A New Crisis for Pakistan
Pakistan is facing a severe natural disaster in its southern region as the Indus Delta collapses under environmental and geopolitical pressure. More than 40 villages have been destroyed, and approximately 1.2 million people have been displaced from the delta, which once supported rich biodiversity and thriving rural communities.
The Indus Delta, located at the southern tip of Sindh province where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea, was once a hub for agriculture and fishing. However, rising sea levels and reduced freshwater flow have led to widespread seawater intrusion, destroying fertile land and submerging entire villages.
One such displaced resident, Habibullah Khatti, recently returned from Karachi to his ancestral village Mirbahar in Kharochhan to bid a final farewell at his mother’s grave. What he found was heartbreaking—her grave now lies beneath a crust of salt, a chilling symbol of how the sea has claimed the land. Mirbahar lies just 15 km from where the Indus River empties into the sea, an area now almost unrecognizable.
Khatti said that of the 40 villages that once made up the Kharochhan area, most have vanished under the sea. According to census data, the population of this region dropped from 26,000 in 1981 to just 11,000 by 2023, with most residents now resettled in Karachi.
A report by the Jinnah Institute think tank confirms this mass migration, stating that around 1.2 million people have left the Indus Delta over the past two decades.
A 2018 study by the US-Pakistan Center for Advanced Studies in Water found that water flow into the Indus Delta has decreased by 80% since the 1950s, largely due to irrigation canals, hydroelectric dams, and the effects of climate change on Himalayan glaciers.
This drastic reduction has allowed seawater to invade the delta, salinizing the soil and rendering it unfit for agriculture. Salinity levels have increased by 70% since 1990, wiping out crops and decimating shrimp and crab populations once native to the region.
Following a recent terror attack in Pahalgam, Kashmir, India has suspended the Indus Water Treaty, further reducing water flow into Pakistan. Originating in Tibet, the Indus River flows through Kashmir before reaching Pakistan, where it supports nearly 80% of the country’s agricultural land and millions of livelihoods.
With the suspension of the treaty, Pakistan’s already strained water supply is under new pressure. The Indus Delta—once rich in mangroves, farmland, and marine life—is now suffering from desertification and collapse.
The delta, formed by the sediment deposits of the Indus River before it drains into the sea, was once a symbol of ecological harmony. Today, it’s a disaster zone.
This environmental crisis has triggered a major humanitarian emergency. Families have been uprooted, livelihoods lost, and cultural heritage erased. Entire communities now live in refugee-like conditions in cities such as Karachi, while government response remains limited.
As Pakistan grapples with this growing catastrophe, experts warn that without urgent international cooperation and environmental restoration, the Indus Delta could become a permanent casualty of climate change, water mismanagement, and geopolitical tensions.
