MITHI: Deputy Commi­ssioner Mohammad Nawaz Soho said that he would take no time to write the authorities of the Sindh government for getting declared Tharparkar district as drought-hit if the desert region did not receive the predicted rainfalls during the last week of August.

He said they had enough stock of fodder to cope with the situations in case no more rainfall.

He said he was in contact with the high-ups of the Sindh government in connection the prevailing conditions in the desert district due to less rainfall so far.

Mr Soho told this reporter that during the current monsoon season, Chhachhro taluka received 167 mm of rainfall while Diplo and Islamkot talukas 129 and 116 mm respectively, and Nagarparkar and Mithi received 96 and 92 mm respectively. But Kaloi and Dahli talukas remained could only get 37mm and 28 mm of rain, he added.

He said recent monsoon season had so far remained erratic and was delayed developing drought-like conditions in Dahli and Kaloi.

He hoped that Tharpar­klar might get more rains from Aug 20 onward as predicted by various weather websites. People from different areas, which received good showers in June and then in early July, said that their crops and fodder were now withering away and feared the worst drought in case of no more rains within the next few days.

They said tillers sowing traditional crops were likely to sustain huge losses even in case of delayed rains in their areas. Thar needs six to seven spells of rainfall with the interval of 10 to 15 days for the sufficient crop yield and enough fodder for the livestock.

Published in Dawn, August 19th, 2021