Indus River Delta

According to some accounts, the Macedonian fleet (of Alexander the Great) anchored itself for some time in the Indus river delta. It was damaged by a tsunami generated by an earthquake off the Makran Coast in 325 BC. According to Tarikh-i-Hind (also known as the Chach Nama) by 6th century AD there existed a port called Debal 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 Umayyads, and the refusal to redress the issue by the ruling prince, precipitated the Muslim conquest 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 reached the Indus delta, Debal had been abandoned due to increased shoaling preventing the then-port from accessing the sea. When the Abbasid caliphate began to disintegrate, 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 Delhi Sultanate by Alauddin Khalji. The tribe had several capitals, but none are populated today. In 1333 AD, the Samma Dynasty ruled all of the delta, and established their capital first at Samu-i (on the south bank of Keenjhar Lake) and later at Thatta. 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. From 1591 to 1592, the Mughal Empire waged a campaign to bring lower Sindh under imperial rule, resulting in the delta coming under the province of Multan and ruled by Mirza Ghazi Beg. In 1739, the region, along with many others, was ceded to Nadir Shah. The Kalhora ruled the region until 1783. The power then transferred to the Talpurs until the British East India Company 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 Indus river started to form some 50 million years ago. 25 million years ago, the Indus Plain was lifted. Coastline The 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 . The total area is estimated at , Listed west to east" • Korangi Creek: southeast coastline of Karachi. • Phiti Creek: • Kadiro Creek: • Chann Waddo Creek: • Khuddi Creek (Wadhi Khudi Creek): • Khai Creek: India's BSF uses CIBMS (Comprehensive Integrated Border Management System), which is a high-tech "smart fence" with a sensor network composed of micro-doppler radars (to detect human movement through obstacles like smoke, fog, and walls), thermal and infrared cameras (high-resolution electro-optical (EO) and infrared (IR) cameras for 24/7 monitoring even in pitch-black conditions), seismic sensors (to detect underground vibrations from potential tunnel-digging activities). The system also included UAVs and drones (for real-time aerial reconnaissance, specifically instrumental in locating stranded personnel in the Harami Nala) and specialized patrolling units and equipment including Creek Crocodile Commandos (an elite BSF unit specially trained for the unique "water-and-mud" terrain of the Kutch creeks), all-terrain vehicles (ATVs), specialized speed boats, floating border observation posts (BOPs) acting as water-borne fortresses, OP Towers (elevated observation post towers in the Harami Nala area), mooring places (such as at Koteshwar for the berthing and maintenance of larger vessels and floating BOPs) and artificial Intelligence Integration (automated threat detection and reduce the reliance on human patrolling in these extreme 50 °C+ environments). • Sir Creek: disputed between India and Pakistan. • Harami Nala (bastard's stream): name of Vian Vari after it leaves Pakistan and re-enters India.) 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. During the summer, the delta experiences intense monsoonal 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. In fact, the delta is subjected to the highest wave 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 erosional impact of waves. ==Biodiversity==

Flora Mangrove 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, and in 10% of the delta fan. As of 2007, the mangroves of the Indus delta are the largest desert climate 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 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. Indus delta has shrunk by 92% since 1833. In light of the threats, Indus Delta was designated a Ramsar site on November 5, 2002. The WWF is working on conservation methods to alleviate the Indus delta's shortage of freshwater. ==Population==

The population of the delta was estimated at 900,000 in 2003 (the total population of Indus River Delta-Arabian Sea mangroves 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 population suffers from the lack of health facilities and medical staff. Only about a third of the population has access to clean drinking water. 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. 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 (WWF) constructed a large water reservoir, of capacity , in Tippin village (at Keti Bandar) 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 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. The United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific 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. Sir Creek), fishermen often do not know when they have 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==