The Indus delta, located in Pakistan where the Indus River meets the Arabian Sea, is being submerged by encroaching seawater—an outcome caused by prolonged mismanagement of natural resources, the impact of climate change, and large-scale hydropower developments. Over the past twenty years, this environmental crisis has displaced more than 1.2 million residents from their ancestral lands, as the region suffers from an 80% reduction in freshwater supply. The problem has been further intensified by India's recent suspension of the Indus Waters Treaty (IWT), which occurred following the Pahalgam terror incident. This suspension has halted the exchange of crucial hydrological data between the two countries, data which Pakistan depends on for managing its water systems and preventing floods.
Despite India’s treaty suspension adding complexity to the crisis, Pakistan bears significant responsibility due to decades of prioritizing energy and agriculture over ecological stability. Beginning in the 1960s, the nation constructed numerous dams and barrages—including the Tarbela and Mangla dams—disrupting the river’s natural flow and severely diminishing freshwater reaching the delta. As a result, the soil in the delta has become increasingly saline—by approximately 70% since 1990—rendering it unsuitable for agriculture and decimating local fish populations.
In areas like Keti Bandar, which once thrived with agricultural and fishing activity, salt now crusts the earth, and freshwater must be transported in by boats and donkeys. These signs of deterioration reflect broader ecological neglect. Recent hydropower initiatives under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), including the Karot and Kohala Hydropower Projects, have focused on energy development with little regard for environmental consequences. Protests by Sindh’s fishing communities helped stall further canal construction under the Green Pakistan Initiative (GPI), which threatened to siphon off even more water from the dying delta.
The GPI, promoted by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif and Army Chief Asim Munir, was envisioned as a solution to food insecurity, aiming to irrigate vast stretches of barren land through six new canals. However, these projects targeted water-intensive agricultural development in Punjab and Sindh at the expense of the delta’s already reduced flow. Although Pakistan’s Indus River System Authority acknowledges a 35% water shortage in key farming provinces, further diverting water from the Indus delta could lead to irreversible damage.
The destruction of the delta is more than an ecological tragedy; it is also a cultural loss. Longstanding traditions tied to the river—such as women net-weaving and preparing fish for market—are vanishing as families are forced to relocate, often ending up in the urban outskirts of cities like Karachi. These displaced communities struggle to find stability, with women facing heightened difficulty adjusting to life away from the ecosystem that once sustained them. Climate activist Fatima Majeed highlights that the loss of the delta is also a loss of identity, tradition, and generational livelihood.
Although the Sindh government and federal initiatives such as the Living Indus Initiative are attempting to restore parts of the delta through mangrove reforestation and other conservation efforts, such programs face stiff resistance from competing land development interests and upstream water demands. While Pakistan criticizes India’s suspension of the IWT as an aggressive act, it often neglects to address the ongoing harm caused by its own policies. The result is a steadily vanishing Indus delta, once rich in biodiversity and cultural heritage, now reduced to a landscape of salt, displacement, and environmental collapse.
