BAHAWALPUR: Following more than usual rains in the Cholistan this monsoon season, the living conditions for the residents of the desert area have improved with filling of tobas (rainwater ponds) and rejuvenated greenery, prompting them to return to their abodes after their seasonal migration.

Hundreds of thousands of desert area residents migrate every year from their homes, along with their livestock, amid the peak of summer heat which renders the ponds dry and green areas scarce.

They move to scattered green areas on the fringes of the desert, which offer fodder and water for their herds comprising sheep, cows and camels.

However, following the heavy rains this monsoon, the weather conditions improved in the desert and scores of Cholistani families, along with their cattle heads, have returned to their original abodes in the desert, where ponds are teeming with fresh rainwater and fodder is in abundance, says the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA) Managing Director (MD) Tariq Mahmood Bokhari.

He told Dawn that there are over 1,000 open ponds and pastures for the cattle in the Cholistan desert.

According to him, due to rains the area has a huge self-growth of shrubs and seasonal bushes, serving as fodder for the cattle heads, which are backbone of Cholistan’s economy.

The MD also claimed that CDA’s water pipelines are also providing drinking water to the locals and their herds in the desert areas.

He hoped the weather conditions would further improve within the next fortnight in Cholistan.

Locals, including Gul Muhammad, Malik Mithoo, Taj Khan said several water ponds (tobas) at Pathani, Kakri, Lakhanwala, Nasowala, Dhori, Sheikhanwala and Qasaiwala and other places were filled with rainwater, ending water and fodder shortage for their animals for a long period.

They hoped that with the advent of winter season by next month, living conditions in Cholistan may further improve for them.

Published in Dawn, September 22nd, 2024