LAHORE / DERA GHAZI KHAN: Civil society members, political activists and Saraiki nationalists on Saturday demanded the Punjab government to immediately halt all plans to evict fisherfolk communities from Taunsa Barrage and formally recognise them as custodians and protectors of the river Indus, while respecting their fundamental right to live and earn their livelihood along the riverbanks.

On the eve of the World Rivers Day, a gathering was held at Taunsa Barrage to mark the day where members of a fishermen’s organisation, Sindhu Bachao Tehreek, along with students, Saraiki activists, journalists, and people from different walks of life expressed solidarity with riverine communities living along the Indus River.

Participants of the gathering condemned alleged plans to evict fisherfolk settled near Taunsa Barrage. Speakers said that thousands of riverine residents who lived there for years were being threatened with forced displacement to make way for the construction of a circuit house for the elite and bureaucracy.

Speaking on the occasion, Khadim Hussain Khar, a member of the Sindhu Bachao Tehreek, said the settlements currently inhabited by fishing communities were originally established under the Taunsa Barrage rehabilitation project funded by the World Bank.

He said that although the current threat of eviction had emerged from the government, the World Bank could not be absolved of responsibility as it designed and supervised what he termed a legally weak resettlement plan, the consequences of which were still being faced by local communities.

Speakers emphasised that the Indus supported millions of people across Pakistan, including fishing communities that lived along its banks for generations and formed an integral part of the river’s ecological system.

Fazal Rab Lund of the Saraiki cultural group Saraiki Lok Sanjh, said destroying the livelihoods of these communities would amount to an attack on the river itself. He noted that the existing contractor-based fishing system had already caused severe ecological damage to the river and had pushed nearly 500,000 fishermen into forced labour conditions.

A female leader of the Sindhu Bachao Tehreek, Basheera Mai, warned that eviction of the fisherfolk would also threaten the fragile ecosystem of the river, particularly the rare Indus River Dolphin, locally known as Bulhan.

After the gathering, participants held a peaceful march from Basti Shaikhan to the western bank of the Indus, chanting Saraiki poetry and paying tribute to the river and its waters. The march concluded with participants showering flowers into the river and collectively pledging to protect it from pollution and environmental destruction.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2026