THE drying up of the Sukkur Barrage has sent shockwaves across Sindh just as a crucial crop season gets underway.
Reports of major northern dams hitting dead levels have fueled panic, raising fears that agriculture in Sindh and parts of Balochistan may be brought to its knees.
Adding fuel to fire, the federal government’s plan to carve out six new canals threatens to drain even more water from a province already struggling to stay afloat.
However, while the panic is justified, the real problem runs deeper than empty reservoirs.
The crisis is not just about water running out—it’s about a flawed system that has failed to hold up under changing climatic conditions.
Despite dwindling dam reserves, river flows have not completely dried up, and neither have the canals that sustain agriculture in Sindh and Punjab.
The real problem is an outdated water management strategy that has boxed Pakistan into a corner, making it overly reliant on reservoirs that are increasingly incapable of delivering what they promise.
“The longer we cling to this broken system, the worse the consequences will be,” warns Dr.Has-san Abbas, a leading hydrologist.
“We need to stop looking at dams as a silver bullet and start restoring the natural flow of our rivers.”
Nowhere is this failure more evident than in the slow death of the Indus Delta.
Once the world’s fifth-largest, it has shrunk by an alarming 92%, with seawater creeping further inland and turning farmland into barren salt flats.
The core issue isn’t just dried-up dams—it’s the systematic diversion of Indus flows before they reach the delta, starving it of the silt, sand, and freshwater it needs to survive.
“The Indus no longer crosses Kotri Barrage in any meaningful way,” Dr.Hassan explains.
“Without that flow, the delta is dying, and with it, the livelihoods of millions.”
As a result, fisheries have collapsed, communities have been forced to move out, and fertile lands have been wiped out.
Meanwhile, in Sindh’s heartland, farmers are watching their crops shrivel as water-intensive farming methods push the system to the brink.
Decades of prioritizing thirsty cash crops such as sugarcane and rice in unsuitable regions have bled the country dry.
Rather than forcing water-guzzling paddy fields upstream, Pakistan should shift gears and grow them near river wetlands and the delta, where they naturally thrive.
Experts argue that moving away from this flawed model is not just necessary but inevitable.
“We need to work with nature, not against it,” Dr.Hassan empha-sizes.
“Our current approach is like trying to squeeze water from a stone—it’s unsustainable.”
Beyond agriculture, Pakistan must wake up to the fact that its rivers hold untapped economic potential.
Historically, the Indus served as a lifeline for inland trade, linking the country’s heartland to the Arabian Sea.
However, over time, policymakers turned their backs on this natural advantage, allowing road and rail transport to take over.
Reviving river navigation could be a game-changer, cutting transport costs, lowering carbon emissions, and transforming Pakistan into a regional trade hub.
“Our rivers are not just water channels,” Dr.Hassan notes.
“They are economic corridors waiting to be revived.”
—The writer is contributingcolumnist , based in Islamabad.(riaz.missen@gmail.com)
