MITHI, June 6: Speakers at a seminar deplored the recurrence of drought in the Tharparkar district and urged the government to devise a policy to solve the problem. The seminar on “Don’t Desert the Dry Lands” was organised under the aegis of the Society for Conservation and Protection of Environment (Scope) to commemorate the World Environment Day here on Monday.

Speaking as chief guest, MPA Abdul Razzaq Rahoomo said that frequent occurrence of drought for two decades had dealt a deadly blow to the socio-economic fabric of the rain-fed region. Consequently, many of its inhabitants had forced to live the miserable nomadic pastoral life, he said.

However, successive governments have not been able to formulate a policy to mitigate the miseries of calamity-stricken people.

The Sindh and federal governments would be moved to devise a policy to cope with the drought situation.

Mr Rahoomo said the government, NGOs and the community would have to prepare a joint drought combating plan.

Scope Chief Executive Tanvir Arif said Tharparkar was a rangeland and not an agricultural area. Therefore, the stakeholders should make a participatory management plan to conserve natural resources, he advised.

The drought caused heavy economical and ecological losses, besides compelling locals to migrate, Mr Arif added.

Journalist Khatau Jani speaking at the seminar said, though Thar was in a grip of drought for the consecutive second year and a large number of locals had migrated to barrage districts with weak cattle heads in search of livelihood, the district government had thrice demanded that the provincial government should initiate relief measures, but to no avail.

He suggested that the Sindh government should amend the Calamity Act of 1958 and to delegate the powers to the district government to declare the region as calamity-hit and to initiate relief measures.

The seminar adopted a resolutions demanding the status of national park to Karoonjhar mountains to impose a complete ban on hunting in Thar and immediate relief measures for the population.

Dr Jaimal Dhanai, Mohammad Ramzan Junejo, Kirshan Sharma, Aleem Soomro and Mahjabeen also spoke on the occasion.