As news channels flashed images of swollen rivers round the clock, a young Zubair Hajjano appeared calm, tending to his cattle in the Indus riverine area, colloquially known as the ‘katcha’.
His livestock grazing at a distance inside the main dyke of the river was his only concern. The main dyke that covers a certain mileage of Hyderabad and Matiari districts is located downstream of Sukkur and the area here provides ample land for crops as well as grazing grounds for cattle.
“Pani aaye ga tu dekhey gey (We will worry once the floodwater arrives),” Zubair said smilingly when asked if he had an idea about when floodwaters from the Sukkur barrage would reach the katcha area.
Unlike Zubair, Sajjad and Zaheer were a bit more cautious, whom I met about 1km beyond the main dyke. Amid all the hullabaloo about super floods, they were making their own assessments about the incoming deluge daily. Their quest to predict the floods was guided by indigenous knowledge.
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