Final Year Project

Project Title

A River’s Breath: Into the Memories of Malir

Description

This research examines how the construction of the Malir Expressway (MEX), framed as a development project, has transformed the Malir River from a life-sustaining ecological system into an extractive infrastructure corridor. Drawing on qualitative interviews and site-based observations, the study documents the impacts of expressway construction on multigenerational Balochi communities residing along the riverbanks. Findings show that disruptions to river flow, sand mining, groundwater depletion, and pollution have eroded livelihoods, ecological resilience, and collective memory, while severing everyday social and cultural relationships with the river. The ongoing part of this project is the visual novel video game. It features memories of humans, nature, and animals in an ecosystem at its turning point, choice-based mechanics, interactive environments, and multiple endings.