Pakistan’s Indus Delta Crisis Displaces Over Million

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Thousands of families in southern Pakistan are being forced from their homes as the Indus River Delta shrinks and saltwater gradually takes over once-fertile land. The creeping environmental crisis has already displaced over 1.2 million people across the region in the past two decades, according to local NGOs and official reports.

The small town of Kharo Chan, once a thriving settlement near the Arabian Sea in Sindh, is now a ghost of its former self. In 1981, the town had a population of over 26,000. By 2023, that number had fallen to just 11,000. Saltwater intrusion has rendered farmland barren and drinking water scarce, pushing entire communities to migrate inland or to urban centres like Karachi.

“We had 60 houses in our village. Now only five remain,” said Habibullah Khatti, a local farmer who was forced to abandon his ancestral land. “The sea has swallowed everything: homes, schools, the mosque.”

Environmental experts point to a dramatic decline in freshwater flow as the root cause. Since the 1950s, the flow of water downstream from the Indus River has fallen by 80%, largely due to upstream dams, diversions for irrigation, and reduced glacier melt. The reduced flow allows seawater to push further inland, increasing salinity in soil and groundwater. As a result, about 16% of farmland in the delta has become unproductive, and salinity levels have risen by over 70%.

The shrinking of the Indus Delta is also threatening Pakistan’s ecological balance. Mangrove forests, which protect coastal areas from erosion and storms, have declined significantly. Fish populations have dwindled, impacting the livelihoods of thousands of fishermen and coastal farmers.

Government and private organisations have launched initiatives to restore some of the delta’s natural defences. The Sindh Forest Department has begun replanting mangroves, while the Living Indus Initiative, backed by the United Nations, is working to increase water flows downstream and rehabilitate the region.

But many experts warn that the damage may already be irreversible. Local elders say entire communities have vanished, along with their cultural heritage. “We’ve lost not just land, but a way of life,” said Haji Karam Jat, another resident of Kharo Chan.

Pakistan’s water security remains under pressure amid ongoing concerns about the stability of the Indus Waters Treaty with India. In the Indus Delta, communities continue to experience environmental degradation, with many residents facing displacement as rising water levels erode homes and farmland.