THE report produced by the Thar Commission set up by the Sindh government makes for a very sad read. First of all, the commission based its conclusions on a few interactions with government functionaries and members of the community. One would have expected, given the seriousness of the situation in Thar, a more rigorous methodology to have been followed; any commission should at least have looked at the demographic studies conducted in the region by experts, and tried to get some data rather than basing the findings only on verbal testimony collected through a series of brief interactions with a miscellaneous group of people. Wherever any numbers are used, they often contradict each other, such as the number of reverse osmosis plants installed, and the figure for those that are operational. The report is, therefore, nothing more than a hasty, superficial compilation of impressions formed by commission members during a short trip to the region.

But even those impressions paint a depressing picture. Government doctors don’t show up at their workplace. They feel better when they run private clinics as they are highly demoralised by the conditions in which they have to work. District hospitals are in a shambles. While their operational budgets have increased, funds can take years to be disbursed. Roads and other infrastructure are built without taking the requirements of the community into account. The reverse osmosis plants are either inoperative, or located too far away to be of use to many of the communities. Or, they are poorly maintained so that the quality of the water they provide is suspect. In many cases, the company charges the local community Rs100 per month, taking the money from every household to keep its plant operational. The people of Thar deserve better. Having said that, it is important to underscore that they deserved a far better inquiry into their plight than what the commission served up. The Sindh government should start getting serious about the issue.

Published in Dawn, May 1st, 2016