Let Rivers Flow: Sustain Indus Delta

The rhetoric of wasted water is an illusion that many of us have fallen into, we must get out of this and recognize how important water flows are for the delta and lives within it.

By Fazul Ullah

Water, dams and canals have taken a center stage in Pakistan’s socio-political discourse, in the recent past. In April this year, a mega protest and sit-in to oppose the construction of six canals got national as well as international media attention. As the intensity of the issue was subdued over time, monsoon floods brought the country back to the discourse of water, dams and canals yet again. There appeared to be different views which could generally be divided into two main arguments, one crying over the riverine water flowing into the sea through delta and other cherishing very same natural phenomenon. So the question is whether abundant flow of water into sea be considered a waste or a lifeline for deltaic communities.

Let’s deconstruct the argument of ‘wasted water’, which is based on the idea that every drop of water be stored, utilized for power generation, irrigation and urban usage. At first glance, this idea appears practical and efficient, as it offers maximum use of available resource for society. However, beneath this seemingly rational argument lies a deeply anthropocentric worldview, one that treats water as a commodity rather than as part of a living ecological system. It assumes that the value of water is exhausted once it ceases to serve direct human purposes, thereby reducing rivers, wetlands, and deltas to mere delivery mechanisms for human productivity.

Philosophically, this view is problematic because it denies the intrinsic value of natural systems. Water in its flowing state, nourishing floodplains, sustaining aquatic species, recharging groundwater, and shaping landscapes, possesses a worth beyond human use. When we label such flow as ‘waste,’ we impose a utilitarian logic upon nature, assuming that what is not measurable in economic or agricultural terms is meaningless. This reflects what environmental philosophers describe as instrumental rationality, the dominance of a mindset that values efficiency over ecological harmony.

Ultimately, to call natural flow “waste” is to misunderstand the reciprocal relationship between humans and the environment. The water that reaches the sea, replenishes estuaries, and sustains coastal ecosystems is not lost — it is fulfilling its ecological purpose within the broader hydrological and moral order. True sustainability, therefore, lies not in capturing every drop but in recognizing that some water must flow to keep the world alive.

What is dismissed as ‘waste’ is, in fact, the lifeline of the Indus Delta and the millions of lives interwoven with its ecology. The freshwater that escapes the confines of irrigation canals and reservoirs to meet the sea performs functions that no engineered system can replicate. It sustains the intricate web of mangrove forests, estuarine fisheries, mudflats, and coastal wetlands that together form one of South Asia’s most unique and fragile ecosystems. To call this flow “waste” is to a great injustice as it misunderstands the deep relationality of water, its capacity to connect inland communities to coastal life, soil to sea, and human well-being to ecological continuity.

Read: Death of the Indus Delta

From times immemorial, the communities living in the delta of Sindhu have depended upon this very flow for their subsistence and cultural identity. They thrived on the abundance of water in the river and delta. In an interaction with the elders of deltaic communities of village Haji Umar Thaheem in Jati, they expressed how prosperous they were some fifty to sixty years ago with plenty of fishing, livestock and forests. The reason of this prosperity was the abundant water flows into the delta, that supported the ecosystem and lives that depended on it. Current situation of many villages visited by author show a gloomy picture of desperation where communities seem tired of increasing salinity, soil erosion and barren lands. Situation seems to be slowly pushing these communities out of their ancestral lands and leaving them vulnerable.  With river water being withheld upstream in an unstainable manner, these communities experience not just ecological degradation, but also social and moral dislocation, a slow violence that erodes both livelihood and belonging.

The freshwater that reaches the delta does not vanish into the sea as propagated by many on social media; it rather becomes part of a grander cycle of renewal, diluting salinity, sustaining fish nurseries, and maintaining the sediment dynamics that prevent coastal erosion. This unquantified service is the foundation upon which both biodiversity and human resilience rest. By labeling it as ‘waste’, we reveal the how narrow minded and selfish we are and are unable to see that life thrives not through control, but through the generosity of flow.

The rhetoric of wasted water is an illusion that many of us have fallen into, we must get out of this and recognize how important water flows are for the delta and lives within it. Letting rivers flow into the delta is to honor a relationship that predates human existence. Letting rivers flow is equal to letting delta and communities within it live and thrive.

Read: Indus Delta has shrunk by over 90%

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Fazul Ullah is an international development practitioner with qualifications from Australia. He has worked with multiple national and international NGOs on diverse themes, including resilience, climate change, disaster response, and advocacy.