A hoard of coins from the Indus Valley City of Mohenjo Daro.

The Indus Valley Civilization was a Bronze Age civilization in northern South Asia, contemporary with the Old Kingdom in Egypt and the Sumerian Civilization of Mesopotamia. Spread across what is now Afghanistan, Pakistan, and northwest India, the Indus Valley Civilization is generally considered to have built the first cities in South Asia, as well as a major centre of Bronze Age technological innovation, although its language has never been translated, so that much about the civilization remains a mystery. The largest of the cities constructed by the Indus Valley people was Mohenjo Daro, located in the  Larkana District of Sindh Province, Pakistan. Mohenjo Daro has founded around 2500 BC, and at its height had a population of about 40 000. It was abandoned in about 1700 BC, along with the other major cities of the Indus Valley Civilization, although why this happened remains as mysterious as many other things about the culture.

Ruins aof the city of Mohenjo Daro in Sindh, Pakistan. Saqib Qayyum/Wikimedia Commons.

On Wednesday 15 November 2023, a team of conservators working on the western side of Mohenjo Daro stupa uncovered a jar of copper coins, the first coins uncovered at the site since 1931, although it is unlikely that they date back to the Indus Valley Civilization, which is not known to have produced coins. The hoard unearthed in 1931 comprised 4348 copper coins dating from the Kushan Empire, which lasted from about 30 AD till its conquest by the Gupta Empire in 375 AD, although its coins would have remained in circulation somewhat longer. 

A pot of copper coins discovered at Mohenjo Daro in Sindh Province, Pakistan, on 15 November 2023. Saeed Memon/Dawn.

The coins together weigh about five and a half kilograms, and are currently fused together into a single amalgam. It is hoped that it will be possible both to separate them and clean them sufficiently to make out the inscriptions on their surfaces, although this is likely to take some time. It is planned that once prepared, they will be placed on display at the Mohenjo Daro Museum in Larkarna.

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At least 32 million people displaced as one third of Pakistan covered by floodwaters.

At least 32 million people are thought to have been displaced as one third of Pakistan has been covered by floodwaters this month, with some estimates placing the figure as high as 50 million. At this time almost 1400 people are known to have died in the floods, including over 400 children. Experts at the Aga Khan University in Karachi have estimated that at least 650 000 pregnant women are among the displaced, with about 70 000 due to give birth in the next month. Estimates of the number of people who will have permanently lost their homes varies between 500 000 and a million.

Flooding in the Dadu District of Sindh Province, Pakistan. Fareed Khan/AP.

The flooding events are thought to be directly linked to rising global temperatures, with the monsoon rains, which began to fall in the middle of June, being the heaviest ever recorded in the country, 4.64 times the average rainfall for the past 30 years. The problem has been exaggerated by melting glaciers in the Himalayas. Seasonal glacial melting is normal feature of the region, but these glaciers are now melting at a much higher rate, leading both to flood events now, and fears that they will disappear in the near future, leading to a much shorter crop-growing season as water availability becomes entirely reliant on the monsoon. Pakistan's previous worst ever flood event occurred in 2010, when the flow of water on the Indus River reached over 11.3 million litres per second; this year it is expected to pass 19.8 million litres per second.

Sindh Province, Pakistan, where the River Indus has burst its banks creating a lake over 100 km wide. Reuters.

As well as the immediate effects of the flooding, there are concerns about the impact this will have on the people of Pakistan both in the coming winter and the longer term. Around 80% of the crops in Sindh Province are thought to have been destroyed, and the vast amounts of standing water left by the flooding are likely to lead to epidemics of Malaria and water-born diseases. The loss of crops is likely to impact not just Pakistan's ability to feed itself, but the loss of much of the revenue earned from growing Cotton, and the accompanying loss of income from manufacturing garments. The flooding is also calculated to have killed over 750 000 head of livestock, over 5700 km of roads and almost 250 bridges. The United Nations has launched an appeal for US$160 million to get Pakistan over the immediate crisis, but has warned that the country is likely to suffer direct economic losses in excess of US$30 billion as a result of the floods, and that the cost of rebuilding the country will cost much more. 

Flooding close to Lake Manchar in Sindh Province, which has also burst its banks. Getty Images.

Pakistan is the world's fifth most populous country, with a population of 220 million, and considered to be one of the ten countries most vulnerable to global warming by the United Nations, despite producing only about 1% of the world's greenhouse gasses. 

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Sindh Wildlife Department seizes Pangolin and Turtle parts during raid in Karachi.

The Sindh Wildlife Department has seized about 200 kg of Pangolin scales and about 150 kg of Freshwater Turtle meat in a raid in the Khadda Market area of Karachi on Friday 26 October 2018. Neither of these products is generally used or consumed locally, and are thought to have been destined for (illegal) export to Southeast Asia. Both Pangolin and Turtle products are covered by the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), though Pakistan is known to be a source country for these materials, which are highly valued in parts of Southeast Asia, though it is keen to lose this reputation, and has been taking increasingly strong measures to combat the trade in recent years.

Officials from the Sindh Wildlife Department pose with Pangolin scales seized during a raid in Karachi on 26 October 2018. The Express Tribune.

The Indian Pangolin, Manis crassicaudata, which is the only species found in Pakistan, is listed as Endangered under the terms of the International Union for the Conservation of Nature's Red List of Threatened Species. The species was formerly found across much of Pakistan, India, Bangladesh, and Nepal, though they are now thought to be extinct in Bangladesh, and extinct outside protected areas in Nepal. With no clear information on the species available from India, the Pakistani population, known to be in sharp decline, has become of great interest to conservationists internationally.

An Indian Pangolin, Manis crassicaudata. Ajit Huilgol/US Fish and Wildlife Service/Wikimedia Commons.

Eight species of Freshwater Turtle are found in Pakistan, the Black Pond Turtle, Geoclemys hamiltonii, the Crowned River Turtle, Hardella thurjii, the Brown Roofed Turtle, Pangshura smithii, the Indian Roofed Turtle, Pangshura tectum, the Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle, Chitra indica, the Ganges Softshell Turtle, Nilssonia gangeticus, the Indian Peacock Softshell Turtle, Nilssonia hurum, and the Indian Flapshell Turtle, Lissemys punctata andersonii, of which four are considered to be Vulnerable under the terms of the Red List of Threatened Species (the Black Pond Turtle, the Crowned River Turtle, the Ganges Softshell Turtle, and the Indian Peacock Softshell Turtle), while one is considered to be Endangered (the Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle). All of these are traded as both foodstuffs and medicines in China and Southeast Asia, with Turtles from all over Pakistan being traded through Karachi. The methods used to catch Turtles in Pakistan are often harmful to the environment, with records of explosives, electricity and poison all being used.

An Indian Narrow-headed Softshell Turtle, Chitra indica. Krishna Kumar Mishra/Wikimedia Commons.

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Thirteen confirmed deaths in Karachi landslide.

At least thirteen people have died following a landslide in the Gulistan Johar District of Karachi, the capital of Sindh Province in Pakistan, early on Tuesday 13 October 2015. The dead have been confirmed to include seven children and three women. A number of homes, thought to have been constructed illegally, were buried in the incident, and it is thought unlikely that anybody will be pulled from the debris alive.

The site of the 13 October 2015 Karachi landslide. EPA.

The site where the incident occurred is understood to have been leveled by cutting into a hillside, a practice known locally as 'China-cutting', creating a flat surface upon which cheap housing had been built, but leaving an unsafe and undermined hillside close to the properties. The plot where the incident landslide happened is understood not to have had permission for the building of homes, having been originally designated as parkland, then amended as suitable for a 'private parking development'. It is unclear if the land owner, a local politician, was aware of the properties on the site; the landlord who rented the properties is currently being sought by police in Karachi.

The approximate location of the 13 October 2015 Karachi landslide. Google Maps.

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Fifteen people injured following Magnitude 5.4 Earthquake in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province, Pakistan.
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At least 19 dead after landslides and flooding on the India/Pakistan border.
At least 19 people have been killed in landslides and flooding along the border between the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir and the Pakistan State of Azad Jammu and Kashmir, associated with the monsoon rains this week. On the Pakistani side of the border...


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Death toll thought to have exceeded 800 as heat wave hits Sindh Province, Pakistan.

The death toll from a heat wave hitting Sindh Province in Pakistan is thought to have exceeded 800. A total of 775 deaths had been reported in Karachi, the capital of the province, between Saturday 20 and Wednesday 24 June 2015, with the more deaths likely in rural areas, where temperatures have been higher and poor access to hospital facilities means that causes of death tend not to be recorded. A high temperature of 43°C was recorded in Karachi on 20 June, while temperatures on 23 June reached 41°C in Karachi, 45°C in Sukkur, 44°C in Jacobabad and 43°C in Larkana.

Medical workers at a Karachi hospital helping a heat stroke victim. Shakil Adil/AP.

The worst affected people have been day laborers forced to work in the open, and older people less able to cope with high temperatures. However the high temperatures have prompted a spike in electricity demand for air conditioning, which has overwhelmed Karachi's power distribution network, leading to a series of power blackouts which have placed even those typically working and living in air conditioned environments at risk. It is also currently the month of Ramadan, during which most Muslims fast and abstain from drinking water during the hours of daylight, increasing the risks of people suffering from dehydration. 

The bodies of heat wave victims in a morgue in Karachi. EPA.

Sidh Province typically suffers high temperatures in June, ahead of the arrival of the monsoon in July, however in coastal regions this is typically offset by a cooling sea-breeze. This has been notably absent around Karachi this year, trapping a pocket of hot, moisture-laden air around the city. 

The severity of the 2015 heat wave appears to be related to a strong El Niño affect recorded over the southern Pacific Ocean this year. The El Niño is the warm phase of a long-term climatic oscillation affecting the southern Pacific, which can influence the climate around the world. The onset of El Niño conditions is marked by a sharp rise in temperature and pressure over the southern Indian Ocean, which then moves eastward over the southern Pacific. This pulls rainfall with it, leading to higher rainfall over the Pacific and lower rainfall over South Asia. This reduced rainfall during the already hot and dry summer leads to soaring temperatures. Worryingly climatic predictions for the next century suggest that global warming could lead to more frequent and severe El Niño conditions, making such South Asian heat waves a common occurrence.

Emergency water distribution in Karachi. Rehan Khan/EPA.

Heat stroke typically occurs when the human body is heated to over 40°C; such temperatures the body rapidly becomes too dehydrated to allow further sweating and the body looses its ability to thermoregulate, leading to disorientation and occasionally seizures, followed by  unconsciousness and eventual death. The best way to avoid this is to remain indoors during the hottest parts of the day, and to cover up with loose-fitting lightweight clothing and a hat when forced to venture outside.

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Death toll from Indian heat wave exceeds 2000.

The death toll from the heat wave that has hit India in May 2015 passed the 2000 mark on Friday 29 May 2015, with the majority of the casualties recorded in Andhra Pradesh and Telangana States, and loss of...

Afghanistan landslide kills at least 52.

Fifty two people have been confirmed dead after a landslide struck a remote village in the Khawahan District in Badakhshan Province in northeastern Afghanistan, close to the border with Tajikistan, early...

Seven confirmed deaths following landslide in Jammu and Kashmir.

Seven people, including at least one child are known to have died following a landslide which destroyed four houses at Laldan in the Budgam District of Jammu and Kashmir on Monday 30  March 2015. It is feared at...

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Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake in northwest Sindh Province, Pakistan.

The United States Geological Survey recorded a Magnitude 5.6 Earthquake at a depth of 5.9 km roughly 45 km to the northwest of Nasirabad in northwest Sindh Province, Pakistan, slightly before 0.30 am local time on Friday 20 December 2013 (slightly before 7.30 pm on Thursday 19 December GMT). This is a large quake, in an area where few buildings are quakeproofed, and has the potential to be quite dangerous. There are no reports of any damage or casualties at the current time (roughly 4.30 hours after the event), but the United States Geological Survey estimate that there is a 35% chance of fatalities having occurred as a result of this quake.

The approximate location of the 20 December 2013 Sindh Earthquake. Google Maps.

The quake occurred slightly to the east of the boundary between the Indian Plate, to the southeast and the Eurasian Plate to the west. The Indian Plate is moving northwards at a rate of 5 cm per year, causing it to impact into Eurasia, which is also moving northward, but only at a rate of 2 cm per year. When two tectonic plates collide in this way and one or both are oceanic then one will be subducted beneath the other (if one of the plates is continental then the other will be subducted), but if both plates are continental then subduction will not fully occur, but instead the plates will crumple, leading to folding and uplift (and quite a lot of Earthquakes). The collision of the Indian and Eurasian plates has lead to the formation of the Kirthar Mountains as well as Himalayan Mountains, the Tibetan Plateau, and the mountains of southwest China, Central Asia and the Hindu Kush.

In addition to this the Arabian Plate is being subducted along the Makran Subduction Zone to the south of Balochistan, passing under the province, which sits on the southern Eurasian Plate, as it sinks into the Earth. The two plates do not move past one another smoothly, but continuously break apart and then stick together until the pressure builds up sufficiently to cause another break, leading to Earthquakes in the process. In addition to this the Eurasian Plate is scraping sedimentary material off the leading edge of the Arabian Plate as it is subducted, forming an accretionary prism of material over the subduction zone up to 7.5 km think in places. This takes the form of a series of parallel folded hill ranges running east to west across the province and Sistan & Baluchistan Province in neighbouring Iran.

See also Magnitude 4.9 Earthquake in northeast Balochistan, Magnitude 5.3 Earthquake in eastern Balochistan Province, Pakistan, Magnitude 4.7 Earthquake in southern Balochistan, Magnitude 4.0 Earthquake in southeast Balochistan and Magnitude 7.7 Earthquake in Balochistan; over 350 dead and new island created.

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