indh’s coastal belt has long supported commerce, dynasties, cultural pursuits, agriculture and aquaculture. However, it is now facing a crisis due to non-availability of safe potable water. Seasonal cultivation has also been affecte4d. In some areas, people have to use canal water or contaminated ground water for drinking.

While visiting Thatto, Sujawal and Badin districts, I came across many villagers who shared their stories with me.

Clad in a Sindhi shalwar qamees and wearing a Sindhi cap, Babu Lashari, 70, said he had finished primary school. He recalled that his village was once named after his elders. It now bears his name. The Babu Lashari village in Sukhpoor union council, in Mirpur Sakiro taluko, in Thatto district was established 70 to 80 years ago. It lack access to electricity, internet and safe water supply. Sitting on a wooden structure near his autaq, Babu said there were around 30 households in the village, a population of nearly 225 people, including 90-95 children. He said there was no clean water, high school or playground for the children. The only primary school was in a very bad state and attracted very few children.

An International Fund for Agriculture Development report from September 2024 on Sindh Coastal Resilience Project, found that “Badin, Sujawal and Thatta districts are considered the poorest in the province with 84 percent multi-dimensional poverty. Only 16 percent of the households own land. Women and youth are particularly disadvantaged due to low skills and literacy levels and lack of a say in community and household decision-making.”

In Badin district, I met Khuda Dino Bhanwryo, who was quite vocal regarding the problems the villagers were facing. The Mohammad Ishaq Bhanwryo village, established in 1876, has benefited from a manual water filtration plant in UC Oliya Jarkas at the Tando Bago taluko. There are 220 households, making up a population of around 950.

Dino said before the filtration plant was set up the whole village used to consume canal water for drinking and cooking and feeding the cattle. According to Rasheeda, an social activist from Thatto, drinking water supply in most Badin is contaminated. She said in Sujawal too many people were left to use highly saline water. In Thatto, she said, most of the areas were water-scarce. Rasheeda said she was an active member of a local support organisation, called Benazir.

The National Rural Support Programme, with technical support from Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources, has provided manual water filtration plants in several districts of Sindh, including Badin and Thatto.

Dr Rashid Bajwa, a recipient of the prestigious Sitara-i-Imtiaz in March 2024, is the CEO of NRSP. He said he was confident that the villagers can maintain and operate the filter plants. Bajwa said the NRSP planned to extend provide similar plants to more villages in these and other districts.

To revive the pristine beauty of the coastal belt spanning Thatto to Sujawal and Badin districts, the government should develop a holistic policy prioritising tourism and re-activation of trade routes. 

Ibrahim Jat, a social activist in Jati taluko in of Sujawal district, said that groundwater in most of Sujawal was contaminated and unfit for human consumption. He said canal water supply to the area was also limited. This left large populations without access to even canal water.

Poverty

Multi-dimensional poverty in the entire coastal belt is a serious issue. In some villages people are not even assured of two meals a day. Due to unavailability of safe drinking water, many people are forced to consume saline or contaminated water. “The government is not paying adequate attention to the misery of the people of the coastal belt”, Bhanwryo said.

Babu said that the NRSP had provided them a manual water filtration plant. He took me to the place in his village where that plant was installed. Women from several villages were there to carry water for their households.

Before NRSP’s intervention, Babu said, the cost of water was so high, not all villagers could afford it. Those forced to consume unsafe water frequently suffered from water-borne diseases. Complaints of diarrhea, toothache and stomach disturbance were routine.

According to the World Health Organisation, polluted water and poor cleanliness are associated with the spread of diseases like cholera, diarrhea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio. It also warns that poor, insufficient and improperly managed water and sanitation services expose people to preventable health risks.

Local media reports show that in Sindh more than 181,000 cases of water-borne diseases have been reported so far this year. The 78,518 cases of diarrhea, along with 26,232 cases of dysentery among children under the age of five in the past three months are staggering. Besides there have been 76,336 diarrhea cases among those older than five years.

Dr Nazir Hyder Shah, a senior public health professional in Thatto, highlighted the challenges that water scarcity poses to the communities across the coastal belt. His insights underscore the pressing need for immediate, targeted action to address the twin crises of water scarcity and public health threats in the region. Dr Shah said the Phulleli canal, which runs from Hyderabad to the coastal areas, is a critical concern. While it provides water to the region, it also carries contaminants and pollutants along the way that expose the residents of these villages to preventable diseases. He says occurrence of skin diseases has been associated with use of Phulleli canal water.

Dr Hassan Abbas, a water resources expert, said that Thatto district had once received fresh water from the Indus delta creeks. After canal irrigation began on a massive scale in the Indus Basin, in the 1850s, flow in the creeks started diminishing. Today, he said, the delta was deprived of river water and silt and saline seawater was entering the creeks.

He said that “the environmentally flawed development models, featuring dams and diversions are continuing. Unless this changes, fresh water supply for the residents of Thatto will keep diminishing.”

In villages that have received the NRSP filer plants, the villager showed a sense of community ownership. Some said they had received training in its operation and maintenance.

Talking about the utility of the filtration plant, Babu said that around 500 liters of water was being filtered daily.

The villagers and the social activists said the government should have developed a holistic policy to restore the pristine beauty of the coastal belt spanning Thatto to Sujawal and Badin districts, prioritizing tourism, re-activation of trade routes, financial support for innovative small businesses and establishing rural entrepreneurship centres.

The writer is a sustainable development expert and public policy analyst. He can be reached at furqanhyders@gmail.com