Badin

Badin ( _ur. بدین) is a town located in Sindh, Pakistan east of the Indus River. The region is swampy, fertile for growing rice. Some oil fields are located near the town in the seasonally inundated Rann of Kutch region. Badin is main town of Badin District.

Tribes

The main Muslim tribes of the district are: Memon,Jarwar, Macchi, Syed, Umrani, Lashari, Theba, Rind, Leghari, Lohar, Lund, Lodhi, Sial, Sarna, Chang, Nizamani, Khaskheli, Khosa, Kalhora, Kaloi, Korai, Kori, Bakari, Babar, Bozdar, Bhatti, Bhoot, Khatri, Shaikh, Sirki, Qazi, Jatoi, Lara, Lat, Jiskani, Panhwar, Pathan, Gaha, Dal, Sheedi, Mandhra, Mehri, Gopang,Rahu, Abbasi, Abra, Arain, Malik and Solangi.

Non-Muslim tribes are Kohlis, Bheels, Meghwars, Dewans, Lohanas, Khatris, Bagris (which are called Baras), Kokris, Karias and Rebaris. Most of the non-Muslim tribes are Hindu, while a few follows of Sikhism can be found in both the Muslim, and non-Muslim tribes.

hrines

In Badin district there are numerous shrines of the saints, which are visited by hundreds of the people daily not only from parts of the district but also beyond. The shrines include that of Saman Shah, one of the greatest saints of Sindh of the last century, the shrines of 22 Pirs of Lowari Sharif including that of the famous poet of Sindhi language, Khowaja Muhammad Zaman and others. While other famous saints who graced this part of Sindh have their last abodes are Raj Shaheen, Ghulam Shah, Ahmed Rajo, Sajan Sawai, Mah Wali, Shah Qadri, Miyoon Mooso, Murad Faqeer jarwar, Shah Gariyo, Syed Tajuddin Shah alias Shah Turail, the Hussain Shah ‘Sail’, Sawall Fakir. The known poets of Sindh, Gul Ghaibee. Shah Dewano, Shaikh Kirhyo Bhandari, Sarwar Fakir, Khan Shah, Mehmood Fakir, the folk Sindhi poet, Shaheed Dodo Soomro, who laid down his life fighting against the invading forces of Alluddin Khijli and others. Festivals: Mostly festivals are also held annually at most of the shrines of these saintly men. The big annual fairs are held at Saman Shah, Ghulam Shah, Sajan Sawai, Gul Ghaibee, Sawan Fakir, Shah Turail, Mai Bhabee, Shah Gariyo, Raj Shaheen and Shah Deewano. Ahmed Rajo. Shah Qadri and others. These annual fairs, besides being reflective of the local culture are also the great source of the entertainment for people of the district.

Environment

Badin is an agro industrial district. In urban area, ambient air quality, supply of contaminated water, unsafe disposal of municipal waste and solid waste, unsafe disposal of infectious hospital waste and congested houses have created sever environmental degradation. Rural area is badly affected by water logging and salinity and non-availability of pure drinking water.

Transport

The district is well linked by roads with its all taluka head quarters. Main roads in the district are Badin to Sajawal road, Badin to Hyderabad road via Tando Muhammad Khan. Badin district consists of five talukas; its total geographical area is 6,726 square kilometres and the total length of roads of both high type and low type is 2019 kilometres. The length of road per square km as per geographical area is 0.30 km, which is insufficient as compared to the rush of motor vehicles and farms to market transportation.

Pakistan Railway

The district is connected by railway system. The railway line connects Badin with Hyderabad passing through Matli Taluka. All the trains running through this district carry enormous traffic both of passengers and goods.

Media

Media is a massive source of communication. It consists of electronic media including radio, television, videocassette recorder, cable system and print media including newspapers, books, pamphlets, brochures, and magazinesc.

3950 television licenses were registered from Badin in 1999-2000. There are 2 cinemas in Badin with 611 seating facility.

Irrigation

The district is irrigated from Sukkur and Kotri barrages. The area being fed by Kotri is further divided in perennial and non-perennial system of irrigation. The irrigation network mainly comprises Guni canal, Phuleli canal, Akram wah and Nasir canal.

Industry and trade

Being an agricultural area, the industries in Badin are agricultural based. Presently there are six large-scale units engaged in the production of sugar and are providing employment to 6,000 persons. Besides these factories, there are 12 rice-husking mills.

Immunisation

The question about immunisation has been included in the 1998 population census for the first time to evaluate the vaccination programme launched by the government from time to time. In all, 44.37 percent of the children below 10 years of age have been reported as vaccinated with a considerably higher percentage at 71.13 in urban areas. The percentages of those not know are quite high at 40.80 in the district, 43.34 percent in the rural and 26.76 percent in the urban areas.

Climate

The climate of the district taken as a whole is moderate, and is tampered by the sea breeze which blows for eight months of the year from March to October, making the hot weather comparatively cool. During the monsoon period, the sky is cloudy, but there is very little precipitation. The climate in summer is generally moist and humid. The cold weather in Badin starts from the beginning of November when a sudden change from the moist sea breeze to the dry and cold north-east wind brings about, as a natural consequence, an immediate fall in temperature.

The maximum temperature in the hot weather does not usually exceed 40C.

Law and order

The general Law & Order situation in Badin district remained normal and under control. Though six sugar mills and oil fields are operating within the jurisdiction of Badin district yet the law & order situation remained under control.

The compression of crime figures for the last 03 years reveals that the crime has been decreased due to the day and night patrolling and taking preventive measures to avert the crime and criminal activities.

ource

* Badin Encyclopædia Britannica from Encyclopædia Britannica
* http://www.search.eb.com/eb/article-9011706(Accessed March 27,2006).