WAJsal
SENIOR MODERATOR
- Joined
- Aug 31, 2014
- Messages
- 7,879
- Reaction score
- 212
- Country
- Location
The 1.2 million people and five million livestock in district Tharparkar are once again in the grip of a severe drought.At least two infants died on Saturday escalating the death toll to 107 as famine continues to harass humanity in Thar.About 175,000 families are reported to have been affected and some of them have been forced to leave their homes and move to barrage areas.The area received no rain, except a little drizzle in the beginning of the current season. Almost all reservoirs have dried up and Thar is facing a famine-like situation. Tharparkar is hit by drought every two or three years, causing severe shortage of food, resulting in malnutrition, diseases and death. Children and pregnant women are affected the most.There is no proper healthcare facility in the Mithi Civil Hospital where the 32 children have died because of malnutrition. A large number of sheep, camels, cows and goats have died in the arid, rain-dependent district. Scores of peafowl have perished in various villages, but the wildlife department is yet to take any significant step to improve the situation.
Although the Sindh government has declared Tharparkar a calamity-hit district, it is yet to take any concrete measure to avert further losses. Its announcement to provide 60,000 wheat bags to the drought-hit people of Thar is yet to materialise.
Historically, in a normal year, between 15 and 20 per cent of poor families migrate towards areas of Sindh which have barrages — such as Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan — for seasonal labour and other livelihood opportunities. The droughts see as much as 25 to 35 per cent of the population migrating to friendlier environments.This year, about 40 to 50 per cent families are expected to migrate towards barrage areas. Most of these people will settle for any work at any wages, leaving them with little bargaining power and especially susceptible to exploitation by their employers.
The district administration is reported to have told the relief commissioner that 60,000 wheat bags would not meet the requirement of about 175,000 drought-hit families.Relatives of the patients admitted to the hospital in Mithi complained that its administration was not providing medicines and they were forced to buy expensive drugs. “We cannot feed our children, how can we purchase medicines?”
THAR is facing alot of problem sindh govt has completely failed , incidence of crime, previously negligible in Thar, is now on the rise, with abuse of women and suicide also increasing as the social bonds holding communities together dry up in the heat of an arid monsoon season.
Drought in Thar: Some more broken promises - Blogs - DAWN.COM
Although the Sindh government has declared Tharparkar a calamity-hit district, it is yet to take any concrete measure to avert further losses. Its announcement to provide 60,000 wheat bags to the drought-hit people of Thar is yet to materialise.
Historically, in a normal year, between 15 and 20 per cent of poor families migrate towards areas of Sindh which have barrages — such as Badin, Sanghar, Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Tando Allahyar and Tando Mohammad Khan — for seasonal labour and other livelihood opportunities. The droughts see as much as 25 to 35 per cent of the population migrating to friendlier environments.This year, about 40 to 50 per cent families are expected to migrate towards barrage areas. Most of these people will settle for any work at any wages, leaving them with little bargaining power and especially susceptible to exploitation by their employers.
The district administration is reported to have told the relief commissioner that 60,000 wheat bags would not meet the requirement of about 175,000 drought-hit families.Relatives of the patients admitted to the hospital in Mithi complained that its administration was not providing medicines and they were forced to buy expensive drugs. “We cannot feed our children, how can we purchase medicines?”
THAR is facing alot of problem sindh govt has completely failed , incidence of crime, previously negligible in Thar, is now on the rise, with abuse of women and suicide also increasing as the social bonds holding communities together dry up in the heat of an arid monsoon season.
Drought in Thar: Some more broken promises - Blogs - DAWN.COM