The
Sindh plain comprises mainly the province of Sindh and
stretches between the Punjab plain and the Arabian Sea.
River Indus flows here as a single river and the plain
comprises a vast fertile tract stretching westward from
the narrow strip of flood plain on the right bank of River
Indus, and a vast expanse of desert stretching eastward
from the left bank. The desert area is dry and desolate
like Cholistan in the Punjab plain. But, the plain area
right of River Indus is green with a vast stretches of
vegetation lined everywhere with avenues of trees.
It is the heart of the Indus Valley Civilization dating
back to 3rd millennium B.C. Thousands of tourists from
all over the world are attracted every year to visit the
ruins of Moenjodaro near Larkana. An elaborate canal system
taken from Sukkur Barrage at Sukkur, Upper Sindh Barrage
north of Sukkur at Guddu, and Lower Sindh Barrage (Ghulam
Muhammad Barrage) at Hyderabad, irrigate together in this
area over 10,000,0000 acres and account for about 40 per
cent of Pakistan's irrigated land.
The fertile area yields abundant crops of rice, wheat
and cotton and contains the bulk of the population and
most of the major commercial and industrial centres of
Sindh such as Hyderabad(795,000), Sukkur (193,000), Larkana
(123,000), Nawabshah (102,000), Shikarpur (88,000) and
Dadu (39,000).
However, its southern part is one of the worst areas of
Pakistan for waterlogging and salinity.
There are many lakes in Sindh,which attract thousands
of migratory birds during the winter season from Central
Asia. Manchhar lake with its highly pulsating expanse
of about 200 sq. miles of area is the largest lake. With
its foliage of towering grasses, its meadows of floating
lotus, its inhabitants in their floating habitations,
the lake presents an attractive look. Further south, stretches
the Indus Delta, which is a savage waste.
An important feature is the Kinjhar Lake near Thatta,
which acts as a great reservoir for feeding canals in
the adjacent areas. During winter, it is an ideal spot
for fishing and duck shooting. South of the Kinjhar Lake,
the surface is broken and littered with abandoned channels
of distributries, sandy beaches, ridges and mangrove swamps,
all merging into the dead creeks, grate and salt water
of the coast of Rann of Kutch. At the extreme north-western
end of the delta stands Karachi, the largest city and
the industrial and commercial hub of Pakistan. It is also
the port for Pakistan and terminal of Pakistan's railway
system and the site of the country's principal international
airport. Climate and Seasons As Pakistan is located on
a great landmass north of Tropic of Cancer, between latitudes
24 and 37 N, it has a continental type of climate, characterized
by extreme variations of temperature.
The
areas closer to the snow-covered northern mountains are
cold. Temperatures on the Balochistan Plateau are comparatively
high. Along the coastal strop, the climate is modified
by sea breezes. In the rest of the country, temperature
rises steeply in the summer and hot winds, called "loo",
blow across the plains during the day, dust storms and
thunder storms occasionally lower the temperature. The
diurnal variation in temperature may be as much as 11
to 17oC. Winters are cold with minimum temperature of
about 4oC in January. Rainfall Pakistan experiences a
general deficiency of rainfall.