UMERKOT: The committee working on formulating proposals for Sindh drought mitigation policy and Thar development authority has submitted its final report to the government, which will be tabled in the next session of the Sindh Assembly for legislation, says the committee member belonging to the PPP, MPA Sardar Shah.

Mr Shah whose brainchild is the proposed drought policy and Thar development authority told Dawn on Thursday he would himself table the report in the next session of the assembly.

He said the government had realised the gravity of the situation and decided to handle it under a viable strategy instead of resorting to symptomatic treatment in the wake of every drought without assessing its intensity, root causes, vulnerable pockets and strategic intervention.

He said that British rulers had formed a famine code in 1906 and the government of Pakistan put in place a calamity act in 1958 which was amended in 1983 but it could not address and identify the genuine issue due to some flaws in the policy.

The government formed the 21-member committee on May 22 this year to propose ways and means to cope with the drought in the wake of deaths from malnutrition of more than 285 children in Thar. The committee was to accomplish the task within two weeks but submitted the final report on July 23.

The report seen by the Dawn elaborates the types of droughts and identifies water availability as top priority of the government to manage drought in an arid area.

It proposes formation of water board, water projects including solar water pumps, irrigation water and water desalination systems to end water shortage.

The report suggests establishment of an arid college to promote saline water agriculture and a Thar development authority to initiate innovative projects to create drought resilient communities.

It recommends food banks, fodder banks and seed banks to make the arid areas food secure.

The report rejects the previous lengthy procedure for the declaration of drought which used to take three to five months to approve and proposes that in the event of delay in monsoon rains three alerts will be issued.

The first alert will be issued on June 30, it will advise the departments concerned to get prepared and make a contingency plan. Then on July 30 the second alert will be issued, which will be treated as 50 per cent drought and measures like provision of healthcare services for children, women and elders, fodder for livestock will be taken to avoid migration and deaths.

The third alert will be released on Aug 30 to declare the drought and the arid area will be provided all required facilities till the next monsoon, says the report.

Mama Juman Darbadar, a local literary figure, praised the government’s initiative and advised the government not to depend on livestock or rain-fed agriculture for decades.

The arid areas were rich in mineral resources, Tharparkar had granite, china clay, salt and coal; Umerkot district had gypsum and salt mines; Sanghar district had salt mines; Khairpur, Sukkur and Ghotki’s arid areas, and Kachho and Kohistan were rich in oil and gas, which would be exploited to bring prosperity to the areas, he said.

Thari activist Dr Sonomal said that no livestock vaccination was carried out in the recent government action to combat drought. There was no transparency in relief measures and all relief was stopped all of a sudden, he said.

Published in Dawn, July 25th, 2014