FOR over 6,000 years, the Indus was the spine of one of the world’s earliest urban civilisations. At Mohenjodaro and Harappa, archaeologists found planned cities, drains, granaries and markets, but no weapons or fortresses. The Indus people built baths, docks and trade links to Mesopotamia and the Gulf. The river was their road. It carried cargo, ideas and people, stitching communities together instead of dividing them.

The shift began in the 1850s. After annexing Punjab, the British built the Bari Doab and Sirhind Canals to settle soldiers and reward allies. These colonial projects diverted water politically, creating the first water conflicts and pitting upstream and downstream communities against each other instead of promoting cooperation.

After 1947, India and Pakistan continued British policies, dividing and damming the Indus for short-term political goals without a basin-wide vision. This created a ‘robbing Peter to pay Paul’ system. The delta lost fresh flows and silt. Canal areas got water but faced waterlogging, salinity and feuds over water rights. Both lack clean water and dignity. Debt grew despite billions spent, while we clung to a colonial irrigation model built for an empire, not a nation.

After air, water........

© Dawn