District Badin Research Articles

Sindhi Civil Society: Its Praxis in Rural Sindh, and Place in Pakistani Civil Society

Sindhi Civil Society and NGOs working in rural Sindh have a dialectical relationship with each other and with rural communities, particularly peasants and marginalized rural ethnic groups. In this article, the nature and structure of Sindhi civil society vis-a-vis their efforts to differentiate themselves from Pakistani civil society and ethnically hegemonic NGO-structuring, resultant perceived marginalization of Sindhi civil society and NGOs working in rural Sindh, have been classified, explained and analyzed in the light of secondary and primary data. Effort has been made to locate historical intersection points between the spawning of NGOs and the origin of modern Civil Society networks, and relate it to Sindhi civil society in global perspective. This paper is the result of the analysis of secondary data validated through an ethnographic study conducted in Naon Dumbaalo and Chamber area of District Badin, and urban area of Qasimabad at Hyderabad District in Lower Sindh.

Economic Activities among Barra Community in Sindh, Pakistan: A Case study of Matli Town, District Badin

This Research paper deals with ethnography of Barra community with special focus on their economic activities. Main concern of research paper is to present a holistic view of this community in general and particular question the relationship between their income generating activities and social life. Research paper is an attempt to provide the analysis of community and way they organize to carry out socio-economic activities. Every community has a distinctive culture, which refers to customary behavior and beliefs that are passed on through the process of enculturation. Barra is a word which is used for calling a boy or child of Ghara community which is now the identity of Ghara community but before the partition they were known as “Ghargula Faqeer” which is another caste of community because their occupations were same , they both sell handmade pots; toys and other things with selling hand made things they were used to beg too but slowly and gradually they diverted toward begging and their identity changed in the process and they started to known as “Barra”. They are nomads where ever they found the empty plot and someone give them protection and provide them safety. They have been living in Matli from century and half but as they are nomads so they pasture from one place to another but their center always been Matli. They are Hindus and belong to scheduled caste but they don’t consider themselves “Shudar”.

Bleeding disorders in the tribe: result of consanguineous in breeding

ObjectiveTo determine the frequency and clinical features of bleeding disorders in the tribe as a result of consanguineous marriages.DesignCross Sectional StudyIntroductionCountries in which consanguinity is a normal practice, these rare autosomal recessive disorders run in close families and tribes. Here we describe a family, living in village Ali Murad Chandio, District Badin, labeled as haemophilia.Patients & MethodsOur team visited the village & developed the pedigree of the whole extended family, up to seven generations. Performa was filled by incorporating patients, family history of bleeding, signs & symptoms, and bleeding from any site. From them 144 individuals were screened with CBC, bleeding time, platelet aggregation studies & RiCoF. While for PT, APTT, VWF assay and Factor VIII assay, samples were kept frozen at -70 degrees C until tested.ResultsThe family tree of the seven generations comprises of 533 individuals, 63 subjects died over a period of 20 years and 470 were alive. Out of all those 144 subjects were selected on the basis of the bleeding history. Among them 98(68.1%) were diagnosed to have a bleeding disorder; 44.9% patients were male and 55.1% patients were female. Median age of all the patients was 20.81, range (4 months- 80 yrs). The results of bleeding have shown that majority had gum bleeding, epistaxis and menorrhagia. Most common bleeding disorder was Von Willebrand disease and Platelet functional disorders.ConclusionConsanguineous marriages keep all the beneficial and adversely affecting recessive genes within the family; in homozygous states. These genes express themselves and result in life threatening diseases. Awareness, education & genetic counseling will be needed to prevent the spread of such common occurrence of these bleeding disorders in the community.

Drinking water quality assessment in Southern Sindh (Pakistan)

The southern Sindh province of Pakistan adjoins the Arabian Sea coast where drinking water quality is deteriorating due to dumping of industrial and urban waste and use of agrochemicals and yet has limited fresh water resources. The study assessed the drinking water quality of canal, shallow pumps, dug wells, and water supply schemes from the administrative districts of Thatta, Badin, and Thar by measuring physical, chemical, and biological (total coliform) quality parameters. All four water bodies (dug wells, shallow pumps canal water, and water supply schemes) exceeded WHO MPL for turbidity (24%, 28%, 96%, 69%), coliform (96%, 77%, 92%, 81%), and electrical conductivity (100%, 99%, 44%, 63%), respectively. However, the turbidity was lower in underground water, i.e., 24% and 28% in dug wells and shallow pumps as compared to open water, i.e., 96% and 69% in canal and water supply schemes, respectively. In dug wells and shallow pumps, limits for TDS, alkalinity, hardness, and sodium exceeded, respectively, by 63% and 33%; 59% and 70%, 40% and 27%, and 78% and 26%. Sodium was major problem in dug wells and shallow pumps of district Thar and considerable percent in shallow pumps of Badin. Iron was major problem in all water bodies of district Badin ranging from 50% to 69% and to some extent in open waters of Thatta. Other parameters as pH, copper, manganese, zinc, and phosphorus were within standard permissible limits of World Health Organization. Some common diseases found in the study area were gastroenteritis, diarrhea and vomiting, kidney, and skin problems.

Limnological Study of Sonharo, Mehro Pateji and Cholari Lakes of District Badin, Sindh Pakistan

Limnological Study of Sonharo, Mehro Pateji and Cholari Lakes of District Badin, Sindh Pakistan