The Indus River Delta ( ur, سندھ ڈیلٹا, sd, سنڌو ٽِڪور), forms where the

Indus River The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmir, ...

flows into the

Arabian Sea The Arabian Sea ( ar, اَلْبَحرْ ٱلْعَرَبِيُّ, Al-Bahr al-ˁArabī) is a region of the northern Indian Ocean bounded on the north by Pakistan, Iran and the Gulf of Oman, on the west by the Gulf of Aden, Guardafui Channel ...

, mostly in the southern

Sindh Sindh (; ; ur, , ; historically romanized as Sind) is one of the four provinces of Pakistan. Located in the southeastern region of the country, Sindh is the third-largest province of Pakistan by land area and the second-largest province ...

province of

Pakistan Pakistan ( ur, ), officially the Islamic Republic of Pakistan ( ur, , label=none), is a country in South Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, fifth-most populous country, with a population of almost 24 ...

with a small portion in the Kutch Region of

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. The delta covers an area of about 41,440 km² (16,000 square miles), and is approximately across where it meets the sea. The active part of the delta is . The climate is

arid A region is arid when it severely lacks available water, to the extent of hindering or preventing the growth and development of plant and animal life. Regions with arid climates tend to lack vegetation and are called xeric or desertic. Most ar ...

, the region only receives between of rainfall in a normal year. The delta is home to the largest arid

mangrove forest Mangrove forests, also called mangrove swamps, mangrove thickets or mangals, are productive wetlands that occur in coastal intertidal zones. Mangrove forests grow mainly at tropical and subtropical latitudes because mangroves cannot withstand fr ...

s in the world, as well as many birds, fish and the Indus dolphin. Since the 1940s, the delta has received less water as a result of large-scale irrigation works capturing large amounts of the Indus water before it reaches the delta. The result has been catastrophic for both the environment and the local population. As a result, the 2010 Pakistan floods were considered "good news" for the ecosystem and population of the river delta as they brought much needed fresh water. The population of the active part of the delta was estimated at 900,000 in 2003. Most of the population depends on agriculture and fishing. Mangrove forests provide

fuel wood Firewood is any wooden material that is gathered and used for fuel. Generally, firewood is not highly processed and is in some sort of recognizable log or branch form, compared to other forms of wood fuel like pellets or chips. Firewood can ...

. Many former settlements in the delta have been abandoned as result of lack of water in the Indus and the encroaching Arabian Sea.

History

According to some accounts, the Macedonian fleet (of

Alexander the Great Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, wikt:Ἀλέξανδρος, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the Ancient Greece, ancient Greek kingdom of Maced ...

) anchored itself for some time in the Indus river delta. It was damaged by a tsunami generated by an earthquake off the

Makran Coast Makran ( fa, مكران), mentioned in some sources as Mecran and Mokrān, is the coastal region of Baluchistan. It is a semi-desert coastal strip in Balochistan, in Pakistan and Iran, along the coast of the Gulf of Oman. It extends westwards, f ...

in 325 BC. According to ''Tarikh-i-Hind'' (also known as the ''Chach Nama'') by 6th century AD there existed a port called ''

Debal Debal (Urdu, Arabic, sd, ) was an ancient port located near modern Karachi, Pakistan. It is adjacent to the nearby Manora Island and was administered by Mansura, and later Thatta. Etymology In Arabic history books, most notably in the early ...

'' in what is now the western part of the Indus delta. Debal also seemed to be the base of pirates from the tribe of ''Nagamara''. These pirates' raids against the

Umayyad The Umayyad Caliphate (661–750 CE; , ; ar, ٱلْخِلَافَة ٱلْأُمَوِيَّة, al-Khilāfah al-ʾUmawīyah) was the second of the four major caliphates established after the death of Muhammad. The caliphate was ruled by the ...

s, and the refusal to redress the issue by the ruling prince, precipitated the

Muslim conquest The early Muslim conquests or early Islamic conquests ( ar, الْفُتُوحَاتُ الإسْلَامِيَّة, ), also referred to as the Arab conquests, were initiated in the 7th century by Muhammad, the main Islamic prophet. He esta ...

around 710 AD (by Muhammad bin Qasim). Debal remained a port, and the last recorded mention of it was in 1223 AD. By the time

Ibn Batuta Abu Abdullah Muhammad ibn Battutah (, ; 24 February 13041368/1369),; fully: ; Arabic: commonly known as Ibn Battuta, was a Berber Maghrebi scholar and explorer who travelled extensively in the lands of Afro-Eurasia, largely in the Muslim wo ...

reached the Indus delta, Debal had been abandoned due to increased

shoal In oceanography, geomorphology, and geoscience, a shoal is a natural submerged ridge, bank, or bar that consists of, or is covered by, sand or other unconsolidated material and rises from the bed of a body of water to near the surface. It ...

ing preventing the then-port from accessing the sea. During the

Abbasid The Abbasid Caliphate ( or ; ar, الْخِلَافَةُ الْعَبَّاسِيَّة, ') was the third caliphate to succeed the Islamic prophet Muhammad. It was founded by a dynasty descended from Muhammad's uncle, Abbas ibn Abdul-Muttalib ...

s, the

caliphate A caliphate or khilāfah ( ar, خِلَافَة, ) is an institution or public office under the leadership of an Islamic steward with the title of caliph (; ar, خَلِيفَة , ), a person considered a political-religious successor to th ...

began to disintegrate, and the delta came under the control of the increasingly autonomous province centered at Mansura. The eastern part of the delta was even more independent and controlled by the Sumra tribe until 1053 AD, when the region was brought under the control of the

Khalji The Khalji or Khilji (Pashto: ; Persian: ) dynasty was a Turco-Afghan dynasty which ruled the Delhi sultanate, covering large parts of the Indian subcontinent for nearly three decades between 1290 and 1320.Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large parts of the Indian subcontinent for 320 years (1206–1526).

Alauddin Khalji Alaud-Dīn Khaljī, also called Alauddin Khilji or Alauddin Ghilji (), born Ali Gurshasp, was an emperor of the Khalji dynasty that ruled the Delhi Sultanate The Delhi Sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over lar ...

. The tribe had several capitals, but none are populated today. In 1333 AD, the

Samma Dynasty The Samma dynasty ( sd, سمن جو راڄ, ) was a Medieval India, medieval Sindhis, Sindhi dynasty in the Indian subcontinent, that ruled Sindh, as well as parts of Kutch, Punjab region, Punjab and Balochistan (region), Balochistan from 135 ...

ruled all of the delta, and established their capital first at ''Samu-i'' (on the south bank of

Keenjhar Lake Keenjhar Lake ( sd, ڪینجھر ڍنڍ) commonly called Malik Lake ( ur, کلری Malik , sd, Maik ڍنڍ ) is located in Thatta District of Sindh the province of Pakistan. It is situated about from the city of Thatta. It is the largest fre ...

) and later at

Thatta Thatta ( sd, ٺٽو; ) is a city in the Pakistani province of Sindh. Thatta was the medieval capital of Sindh, and served as the seat of power for three successive dynasties. Thatta's historic significance has yielded several monuments in and ...

. It was during this dynasty that the "golden age of native rule" (1461-1509 AD) happened in the delta and Sindh, under the rule of

Jam Nizamuddin II Jám Nizámuddín II ( sd, ڄام نظام الدين ثاني, ur, جام نظام الدين ثاني; 1439–1509), also known as Jam Nizam al-Din or Jám Nindó ( sd, ڄام نندو, links=no), was the Sultan of Sindh between 1461 and 1508 ...

. From 1591 to 1592, the

Mughal empire The Mughal Empire was an early-modern empire that controlled much of South Asia between the 16th and 19th centuries. Quote: "Although the first two Timurid emperors and many of their noblemen were recent migrants to the subcontinent, the d ...

waged a campaign to bring lower Sindh under imperial rule, resulting in the delta coming under the province of

Multan Multan (; ) is a city in Punjab, Pakistan, on the bank of the Chenab River. Multan is Pakistan's seventh largest city as per the 2017 census, and the major cultural, religious and economic centre of southern Punjab. Multan is one of the List ...

and ruled by

Mirza Ghazi Beg Mirza Ghazi Beg Tarkhan ( fa, میرزا غازى بیگ ترخان, r. 1599–1612 CE) of the Tarkhan dynasty in Sindh ruled from the capital city of Thatta. He was the most powerful Mughal governor who administered Sindh, during whose rule the ...

. In 1739, the region, along with many others, was ceded to

Nadir Shah Nader Shah Afshar ( fa, نادر شاه افشار; also known as ''Nader Qoli Beyg'' or ''Tahmāsp Qoli Khan'' ) (August 1688 – 19 June 1747) was the founder of the Afsharid dynasty of Iran and one of the most powerful rulers in Iranian h ...

. The

Kalhora The Kalhora () is a Sindhi tribe of Sindh, Pakistan, they claim Arab origin and direct descendants from Al-Hakim I and ultimately Abbas ibn Abd al-Muttalib, companion and paternal uncle of Islamic prophet Muhammad. They founded the Kalhora Dy ...

ruled the region until 1783. The power then transferred to the

Talpur Talpur (, bal, تالپورء اۏبادگ) is a Saraiki-speaking Baloch sub-clan of the Hoth tribe settled in Sindh, Punjab and Balochistan in Pakistan. The tribe established the Talpur dynasty, which ruled between 1783 and 1843, while a bran ...

s until the

British East India Company The East India Company (EIC) was an English, and later British, joint-stock company founded in 1600 and dissolved in 1874. It was formed to trade in the Indian Ocean region, initially with the East Indies (the Indian subcontinent and Southea ...

conquered them in 1839. In 1947, the Indus delta, along with rest of Sindh became a part of Pakistan. Since 1957, the Sindh Forest and Wildlife Department has been tasked with protecting and managing of mangrove-forested area of the Indus delta. In 1973, were transferred to Port Qasim. The Sindh Board of Revenue continues to manage of the area. In December 2010, realizing the importance of mangrove conservation, the Government of Sindh declared all the mangrove forests in the Indus Delta as "Protected Forests", under the Forest Act of 1927. Apart from this action, a Mangrove Conservation Committee, with membership of all the relevant stakeholders has been formed to ensure the sustainable conservation of the Indus Delta Mangroves

Geography

The end estimated coastline of the Indus delta with the Arabian Sea (the maximum length in the direction of the coast) is approximated at , 220 km, and . Because the Indus river has switched its location at various points in history, it has an "active" delta region, and total delta region (all area that was once a part of the delta). The total area is estimated at , and . The active area is estimated at , and . The length of the total delta along the axis of Indus is estimated at , whereas the current delta stretches from the Arabian Sea to just south of Thatta (~). There are currently 17 major creeks(Including

Sir Creek Sir Creek ( ), originally Ban Ganga, is a 96-km (60-mi) tidal estuary in the uninhabited marshlands of the Indus River Delta on the border between India and Pakistan. The creek flows into the Arabian Sea and separates Gujarat state in India fro ...

, Bhitiaro Creek and Kori Creek) and numerous minor creeks. The delta receives almost all of its water from the Indus river, which has an annual flow of approximately , and is accompanied by 400 million tonnes of silt. Since the 1940s, dams, barrages and irrigation works have been constructed on the river Indus. (In fact the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Interna ...

has characterized the works as the "world's largest" and the Indus Basin Irrigation System as the "largest contiguous irrigation system developed over the past 140 years" anywhere in the world.) This has served to reduce the flow of water and by 1994, the annual flow of water into the delta was , and annual amount of silt discharged was estimated to be . Since 1994, the water flow has decreased as Punjab has been allocated a higher share of the water. The climate of the delta is described as arid. It receives only of rain in a normal year. Average temperatures for the delta region range from 21 to 30 °C (70-85 °F) in July, and 10-21 °C (50-70 °F) in January. During the summer, the delta experiences intense

monsoon A monsoon () is traditionally a seasonal reversing wind accompanied by corresponding changes in precipitation but is now used to describe seasonal changes in atmospheric circulation and precipitation associated with annual latitudinal oscil ...

al winds from the southwest, causing parts of the delta to be covered by sea-water. When this water retreats, it leaves behind salts in the delta's soil. During the winter the winds in the delta come from the northeast. The summer monsoonal winds also contribute to high wave energy levels. In fact, the delta is subjected to the highest

wave In physics, mathematics, and related fields, a wave is a propagating dynamic disturbance (change from equilibrium) of one or more quantities. Waves can be periodic, in which case those quantities oscillate repeatedly about an equilibrium (res ...

action of any river delta in the world. (The amount of wave energy the Indus delta receives in a single day is greater than that received by the Mississippi River Delta in a year.) Throughout history the delta has survived this wave action because of the large discharge of fresh water to counter the

erosion Erosion is the action of surface processes (such as water flow or wind) that removes soil, rock, or dissolved material from one location on the Earth's crust, and then transports it to another location where it is deposited. Erosion is distin ...

al impact of waves. This large amount of wave energy, coupled with lack of silt flowing in from the Indus river (as mentioned above), has resulted in the formation of

sand beach A beach is a landform alongside a body of water which consists of loose particles. The particles composing a beach are typically made from rock, such as sand, gravel, shingle, pebbles, etc., or biological sources, such as mollusc sh ...

es. The Indus river started to form some 50 million years ago. 25 million years ago, the

Indus Plain The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region of Kashmi ...

was lifted.Haq, 1997, p.67-69

Biodiversity

Flora

Mangrove A mangrove is a shrub or tree that grows in coastal saline water, saline or brackish water. The term is also used for tropical coastal vegetation consisting of such species. Mangroves are taxonomically diverse, as a result of convergent evoluti ...

forests are one of the most abundant ecological communities of the delta, but they have declined over the years. According to Haq ''et al.'', they covered an area of until the 1980s and could be found along the entire 240 km coastline, in 40% of the

tidal zone The intertidal zone, also known as the foreshore, is the area above water level at low tide and underwater at high tide (in other words, the area within the tidal range). This area can include several types of habitats with various species o ...

, and in 10% of the delta fan. Memon reports that the area of mangrove forests was 263,000 hectares in 1977 and in 1990. Both agree that they were sixth-largest mangrove forests in the world. Previously there had been eight species of mangroves, although only four now remain: '' Aegiceras corniculatum'', ''

Avicennia marina ''Avicennia marina'', commonly known as grey mangrove or white mangrove, is a species of mangrove tree classified in the plant family Acanthaceae (formerly in the Verbenaceae or Avicenniaceae). As with other mangroves, it occurs in the intertid ...

'', ''

Ceriops tagal ''Ceriops tagal'', commonly known as spurred mangrove or Indian mangrove, is a mangrove tree species in the family Rhizophoraceae. It is a protected tree in South Africa. The specific epithet ' is a plant name from the Tagalog language. Descrip ...

'', and ''

Rhizophora mucronata ''Rhizophora mucronata'' (loop-root mangrove, red mangrove or Asiatic mangrove) is a species of mangrove found on coasts and river banks in East Africa and the Indo-Pacific region. Description ''Rhizophora mucronata'' is a small to medium si ...

''. Among these ''Avicennia marina'' constitutes 99% of the mangrove population.Haq, Saifullah, 1997, p.333-336 As of 2007, the mangroves of the Indus delta are the largest

desert climate The desert climate or arid climate (in the Köppen climate classification ''BWh'' and ''BWk''), is a dry climate sub-type in which there is a severe excess of evaporation over precipitation. The typically bald, rocky, or sandy surfaces in desert ...

mangrove forests in the world. However the Indus Delta saw an increase in number of mangroves after preservation and plantation initiatives. Mangrove forests of Indus delta now cover an area of around 600, 000 hectares. The mangroves are under control of three different organizations, namely: - Sindh Forest Department (280, 470 Ha) - Port Qasim Authority (64, 400 Ha) - Sindh Board of Revenue (255, 130 Ha) ''

Arthrocnemum macrostachyum ''Arthrocaulon macrostachyum'', synonym ''Arthrocnemum macrostachyum'', is a species of flowering plant in the amaranth family. It is native to coastal areas of the Mediterranean Sea and the Red Sea and parts of the Middle East, where it grows i ...

'' is also found growing in the delta.

Threats

The natural flow of water and fertile sediments from Indus river into the delta has been impeded due to the construction of dams along the river. The reduction of freshwater due to the dams also increases salinity, making the waters of the delta unsuitable for the freshwater species. In case of the Indus dolphin, the damming of the river has isolated the delta dolphin population from those dolphins upstream. The 2010 Pakistan floods were considered "good news" for the ecosystem of the river delta as they brought an excess of much needed fresh water. The Sindh government announced that 8,000 hectares of mangrove forests had been planted, and more plantation was considered (however, the delta has lost 170,000 hectares of mangroves over the past 50 years). The delta faces pollution both from sea and the Indus river. Chemical run-off into the river threatens many species. Most of this chemical run-off consists of agriculture

pesticide Pesticides are substances that are meant to control pests. This includes herbicide, insecticide, nematicide, molluscicide, piscicide, avicide, rodenticide, bactericide, insect repellent, animal repellent, microbicide, fungicide, and lampri ...

and

fertilizer A fertilizer (American English) or fertiliser (British English; see spelling differences) is any material of natural or synthetic origin that is applied to soil or to plant tissues to supply plant nutrients. Fertilizers may be distinct from ...

. The delta faces pollution from the Arabian Sea.

Karachi Karachi (; ur, ; ; ) is the most populous city in Pakistan and 12th most populous city in the world, with a population of over 20 million. It is situated at the southern tip of the country along the Arabian Sea coast. It is the former cap ...

, Pakistan's largest city, releases sewage and discharge from industrial units into the Arabian sea, most of which is untreated. Both

Port of Karachi The Port of Karachi ( ur, , ''Bandar gāh Karāchī'') is one of South Asia's largest and busiest deep-water seaports, handling about 60% of the nation's cargo (25 million tons per annum) located in Karachi, Pakistan. It is located on the Karac ...

and Port Qasim handle significant shipping traffic, resulting in oil discharge, some of which reaches the delta. All of this pollution lowers the river water quality, causes

eutrophication Eutrophication is the process by which an entire body of water, or parts of it, becomes progressively enriched with minerals and nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus. It has also been defined as "nutrient-induced increase in phytopla ...

, reducing the amount of habitat. Indus delta has shrunk by 92% since 1833. In light of the threats, Indus Delta was designated a

Ramsar site A Ramsar site is a wetland site designated to be of international importance under the Ramsar Convention,8 ha (O) *** Permanent 8 ha (P) *** Seasonal Intermittent < 8 ha(Ts) **

freshwater Fresh water or freshwater is any naturally occurring liquid or frozen water containing low concentrations of dissolved salts and other total dissolved solids. Although the term specifically excludes seawater and brackish water, it does include ...

Population

The population of the delta was estimated at 900,000 in 2003 (the total population of

Indus River Delta-Arabian Sea mangroves The Indus ( ) is a transboundary river of Asia and a trans-Himalayan river of South Asia, South and Central Asia. The river rises in mountain springs northeast of Mount Kailash in Western Tibet, flows northwest through the disputed region ...

was 1.2 million). Within the river delta, about 140,000 people (16% of the population) depended on the mangrove forests for their livelihood, and 60% depended on the forests for fuels. At least 75% of the population in the active delta depend on the

fishing industry The fishing industry includes any industry or activity concerned with taking, culturing, processing, preserving, storing, transporting, marketing or selling fish or fish products. It is defined by the Food and Agriculture Organization as including ...

. The population suffers from the lack of health facilities and medical staff. Only about a third of the population has access to clean drinking water. Ethnic groups of lower Sindh can be found in the delta region:

Mallaah The Mallaah are the traditional boatmen and fishermen tribes or communities of North India, East India, Northeastern India and Pakistan. A significant number of Mallah are also found in Nepal and Bangladesh Bangladesh (}, ), officially ...

, Mohano,

Soomro Soomro ( sd, سومرو, सूमरो) or Soomra or Sumrah is a tribe having a local origin in Sindh who had later claimed to being either Rajputs or Arabs. They are found in Sindh, parts of Punjab especially bordering Sindh, Balochistan provi ...

, Samma and

Jat The Jat people ((), ()) are a traditionally agricultural community in Northern India and Pakistan. Originally pastoralists in the lower Indus river-valley of Sindh, Jats migrated north into the Punjab region in late medieval times, and su ...

. All of these groups speak Sindhi and follow

Islam Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...

The delta falls within the districts of

and

Badin Badin ( Sindhi and ur, ) is the main city and capital of Badin District in Sindh, Pakistan. It lies east of the Indus River. It is the 87th largest city in Pakistan. Badin is often called 'Sugar State' due to its production of sugar. Badin ...

of the Sindh province. Pakistan's fifth largest city,

Hyderabad Hyderabad ( ; , ) is the capital and largest city of the Indian state of Telangana and the ''de jure'' capital of Andhra Pradesh. It occupies on the Deccan Plateau along the banks of the Musi River (India), Musi River, in the northern part ...

, lies about 130 miles north of the mouths of the Indus. Towns are found throughout the delta, but there are no large cities on the delta south of Hyderabad. Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, lies west of the delta on the coast of the Arabian Sea. The

2010 floods 1 (one, unit, unity) is a number representing a single or the only entity. 1 is also a numerical digit and represents a single unit of counting or measurement. For example, a line segment of ''unit length'' is a line segment of length 1 ...

displaced nearly 1 million people in southern Sindh, including those living in the delta. In spite of this displacement and other destruction caused in the rest of Pakistan, however, many people in the delta considered the floods as "good news". Villagers reported abundance of fresh water for drinking and agriculture. Fishermen reported increase in catches.

Economy

The economy of the delta consists of agriculture and fishing. As of 2005, more than 140,000 hectares of land were used for agriculture, mostly used to cultivate

rice Rice is the seed of the grass species ''Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima ''Oryza glaberrima'', commonly known as African rice, is one of the two domesticated rice species. It was first domesticated and grown i ...

, followed by

sugarcane Sugarcane or sugar cane is a species of (often hybrid) tall, Perennial plant, perennial grass (in the genus ''Saccharum'', tribe Andropogoneae) that is used for sugar Sugar industry, production. The plants are 2–6 m (6–20 ft) tall with ...

and

wheat Wheat is a grass widely cultivated for its seed, a cereal grain that is a worldwide staple food. The many species of wheat together make up the genus ''Triticum'' ; the most widely grown is common wheat (''T. aestivum''). The archaeologi ...

Barley Barley (''Hordeum vulgare''), a member of the grass family, is a major cereal grain grown in temperate climates globally. It was one of the first cultivated grains, particularly in Eurasia as early as 10,000 years ago. Globally 70% of barley pr ...

gram The gram (originally gramme; SI unit symbol g) is a Physical unit, unit of mass in the International System of Units (SI) equal to one one thousandth of a kilogram. Originally defined as of 1795 as "the absolute weight of a volume of pure wate ...

oil seed Vegetable oils, or vegetable fats, are oils extracted from seeds or from other parts of fruits. Like animal fats, vegetable fats are ''mixtures'' of triglycerides. Soybean oil, grape seed oil, and cocoa butter are examples of seed oils, or f ...

maize Maize ( ; ''Zea mays'' subsp. ''mays'', from es, maíz after tnq, mahiz), also known as corn (North American and Australian English), is a cereal grain first domesticated by indigenous peoples in southern Mexico about 10,000 years ago. Th ...

millet Millets () are a highly varied group of small-seeded grasses, widely grown around the world as cereal crops or grains for fodder and human food. Most species generally referred to as millets belong to the tribe Paniceae, but some millets al ...

cotton Cotton is a soft, fluffy staple fiber that grows in a boll, or protective case, around the seeds of the cotton plants of the genus ''Gossypium'' in the mallow family Malvaceae. The fiber is almost pure cellulose, and can contain minor perce ...

, and

jowar ''Sorghum bicolor'', commonly called sorghum () and also known as great millet, broomcorn, guinea corn, durra, imphee, jowar, or milo, is a grass species cultivated for its grain, which is used for food for humans, animal feed, and ethanol produc ...

are other important crops. Fruits such as

coconut The coconut tree (''Cocos nucifera'') is a member of the palm tree family ( Arecaceae) and the only living species of the genus ''Cocos''. The term "coconut" (or the archaic "cocoanut") can refer to the whole coconut palm, the seed, or the ...

mango A mango is an edible stone fruit produced by the tropical tree ''Mangifera indica''. It is believed to have originated in the region between northwestern Myanmar, Bangladesh, and northeastern India. ''M. indica'' has been cultivated in South a ...

fig The fig is the edible fruit of ''Ficus carica'', a species of small tree in the flowering plant family Moraceae. Native to the Mediterranean and western Asia, it has been cultivated since ancient times and is now widely grown throughout the world ...

pomegranate The pomegranate (''Punica granatum'') is a fruit-bearing deciduous shrub in the family Lythraceae, subfamily Punicoideae, that grows between tall. The pomegranate was originally described throughout the Mediterranean Basin, Mediterranean re ...

apple An apple is an edible fruit produced by an apple tree (''Malus domestica''). Apple fruit tree, trees are agriculture, cultivated worldwide and are the most widely grown species in the genus ''Malus''. The tree originated in Central Asia, wh ...

peach The peach (''Prunus persica'') is a deciduous tree first domesticated and cultivated in Zhejiang province of Eastern China. It bears edible juicy fruits with various characteristics, most called peaches and others (the glossy-skinned, non-fu ...

melon A melon is any of various plants of the family Cucurbitaceae with sweet, edible, and fleshy fruit. The word "melon" can refer to either the plant or specifically to the fruit. Botanically, a melon is a kind of berry, specifically a "pepo". The ...

banana A banana is an elongated, edible fruit – botanically a berry – produced by several kinds of large herbaceous flowering plants in the genus ''Musa''. In some countries, bananas used for cooking may be called "plantains", distinguis ...

guava Guava () is a common tropical fruit cultivated in many tropical and subtropical regions. The common guava ''Psidium guajava'' (lemon guava, apple guava) is a small tree in the myrtle family ( Myrtaceae), native to Mexico, Central America, the ...

and

papaya The papaya (, ), papaw, () or pawpaw () is the plant species ''Carica papaya'', one of the 21 accepted species in the genus ''Carica'' of the family Caricaceae. It was first domesticated in Mesoamerica, within modern-day southern Mexico and ...

are also reportedly grown. The delta also used to have large pastures for livestock grazing. As of 2003, fishing was an important source of revenue. Catches of mangrove dependent fish were valued at $20 million annually, shrimp at $70 million and mud crabs at $3 million.

Migration

As a result of resource degradation, a large exodus of people has taken place from the Indus delta. Altaf Memom estimates that 90,000 have been displaced and about 120 villages have been depopulated. One reason give is the shortage of local bushes and plants that are used for preparing various materials (especially by the

villagers). Others have migrated due to lack of potable drinking water. The Pakistan Fisherfolk Forum estimates that 14,400 people from the delta coast, majority of them fishermen, are amongst those that have left. Kharochan, until the 1970s was a bustling city in the delta. Its port was used to export locally grown silk, rice and wood. However, rising salinity destroyed the local agriculture and the port was lost to the encroaching Arabian sea by 2006.

Sustainable development

In 2009, the

World Wildlife Fund The World Wide Fund for Nature Inc. (WWF) is an international non-governmental organization founded in 1961 that works in the field of wilderness preservation and the reduction of human impact on the environment. It was formerly named the Wo ...

(WWF) constructed a large water reservoir, of capacity , in Tippin village (at

Keti Bandar The Keti Bandar Port ( ur, ) is a port on the Arabian Sea, in the Thatta District, Sindh, Pakistan. The port was built on the remains of the older seaport of Debal where Muhammad bin Qasim and his army arrived from Iraq. Keti Bandar is approxima ...

) and a few plastic storage tanks (with a capacity of 4,000 litres). It also set up 200-watt solar panels to supply electricity to a school. Finally it installed two 500-watt wind turbines. Electricity was previously unavailable due to high cost of establishing power lines in the difficult-to-access area. In 2010, Sindh Radiant Organization (in partnership with WWF) installed a solar-powered desalination plant developed by the

Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research The Pakistan Council of Scientific & Industrial Research (PCSIR) ( ur, ) is a government-owned science and industrialisation research organisation which mainly focuses on the development of industrial research. History Initially established as ...

in the village of Jat Mohammad. The plant is capable of providing 40 gallons of drinking water every day. While the plant is not enough to meet the needs of the entire village, Pakistan's Ministry of Science and other NGOs have shown interest in replicating it to alleviate water shortages in the delta.Research and Development Foundation
a Pakistani NGO, has also started implementing solar desalination in six villages in Thatta with funding from

Oxfam Oxfam is a British-founded confederation of 21 independent charitable organizations focusing on the alleviation of global poverty, founded in 1942 and led by Oxfam International. History Founded at 17 Broad Street, Oxford, as the Oxford Co ...

. The

United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (ESCAP) is one of the five regional commissions under the jurisdiction of the United Nations Economic and Social Council. It was established in order to increase economic ...

has estimated the potential of generating 100KW of electricity by harnessing the power of tidal currents along of the delta's coastline.

Pakistan-India conflict

Pakistani fishermen in the delta have increasingly faced detention for accidentally straying over into Indian waters while fishing. Fishermen have been forced to fish near the border as a result of destruction of ecosystems elsewhere in the delta. Because the boundaries between India and Pakistan are poorly demarcated in some areas (e.g.

), fishermen often don't know when they've crossed the border. NGOs say that under Indian laws, fisherman can face, at most, three months in prison and a $12 fine. However, most are jailed for a year, and their boats are sold at an auction. Indian fishermen crossing into Pakistan face a similar fate.

Satellite view

References

;Citations ;Bibliography * * * *

External links

Indus River Delta
at the

{{Authority control River deltas of Asia Landforms of Pakistan Indus basin Ramsar sites in Pakistan