HEAT is creeping over the Indus plains. Unlike sudden floods or storms, it comes quietly but persistently: dry winters harden soils, heatwaves stretch for weeks and delayed monsoons overstay. Crops falter—wheat ripens too soon, cotton sheds flowers, rice paddies stay hot at night. Farmers shift sowing and harvesting, yet these stopgaps cannot offset a faltering seasonal rhythm and the limits of hydraulic control.

For decades, Pakistan’s agriculture thrived on controlling water. After the Indus Waters Treaty, dams, barrages and vast canals reshaped semi-arid plains into fertile land. Laws and institutions enforced this authority. Water flowed as planned, fields prospered and the hydraulic state became a symbol of engineering mastery, seemingly unshakable.

The emerging climate reality, however, is revealing the limits of this model. Dry winters drain the soil of its........

© Pakistan Observer