Met Office warns of drought in three provinces
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RAWALPINDI: The Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) has issued a drought alert for Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab due to scant rainfall.
According to the alert issued on Monday, drought conditions would persist in Sindh, southern parts of Balochistan and lower eastern plain areas of Punjab.
This was despite the recent rainfall spells that have improved drought conditions in central and upper parts of the country.
The mean temperature during March 2025 in the lower half of the country was 2-3 degrees Celsius above normal.
The consecutive dry days in some areas of the southern region even exceeded 200 days.
Alert issued for Sindh, Balochistan and Punjab; mean March temperature 2-3°C above normal
The current weather and seasonal climate outlook were likely to exacerbate and intensify the drought situation in the affected areas.
In Sindh, a moderate drought situation is likely in Padidan, Shaheed Benazirabad, Dadu, Tharparkar, Umerkot, Khairpur, Hyderabad, Thatta, Badin and Karachi, while mild situation will be in Ghotki, Jacobabad, Larkana, Sukkur, Khairpur and Sanghar.
In Balochistan, the drought conditions will be moderate in Gwadar, Kech, Lasbela, Panjgur and Awaran, with mild conditions in Chagai, Jaffarabad, Jhal Magsi, Sibbi, Nushki and Washuk.
In Punjab, the affected areas will be Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan. The alert stated that PMD’s National Drought Monitoring & Early Warning Centre (NDMC) was monitoring the situation.
The emergence of flash drought — which intensifies rapidly due to changes in precipitation, temperature, wind, and radiation — is also anticipated in upcoming months due to the rainfall deficit and rising temperatures.
Keeping in view the current weather situation and seasonal climate outlook, the drought situation is likely to exacerbate in Sindh and parts of Balochistan and Punjab.
Less rainfall
Overall rainfall from September 1, 2024, to March 21, 2025, was 40 per cent below normal.
The rainfall deficit across the country was Sindh (-62pc), Balochistan (-52pc), Punjab (-38pc), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (-35pc), Azad Jammu and Kashmir (-29pc) and Gilgit-Baltistan (-2pc).
As per the PMD, there was an acute shortage of water in Tarbela and Mangla dams and water flowing in different rivers was at an extremely low level.
The current level of Tarbela Dam is 1,402 feet and 1,061.75 feet in Mangla Dam. Both dams are at a dead level.
In a recent report, the NDMC said the average temperature recorded during the week from March 15 to 21 was 1 to 7 degree above average, which could lead to decreased soil moisture levels.
“This rise in temperature is expected to increase water demand, adversely affecting crops and putting extra pressure on already strained water resources,” it added.
It said that dry weather is expected in most parts of the country from March 24 to 30, with rain, wind/thunderstorms and snowfall on mountains likely in upper KP, GB, Azad Kashmir and north Balochistan on March 26.
Isolated rain, windstorms, thunderstorms and hailstorms are expected in lower KP and upper/south Punjab.
Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2025
