THARPARKAR is facing drought this year in view of a poor rainfall and people are moving to other districts in search of water, food and fodder for their cattle.

In view of the severity of the drought, the Government of Sindh has declared district Tharparkar a calamity-hit area on August 19, 2012. In the district, out of 166 dehs only nine are located in the command area of a barrage, while the rest of the 157 dehs are in the desert where people mostly depend upon rains to feed their livestock and food. The drought has also lowered the underground water level drastically.

About 92 per cent of people depends on livestock and barani (rain-fed) agriculture which solely depends on monsoon rains. Due to fragile nature of agro ecosystem, even a minor drought causes heavy damage in terms of crop failure and livestock losses and results into further deepening of poverty.

There is no long-term drought mitigation strategy in place, and in the event of drought relief measures, no matter at how a large scale, cannot meet the demand of huge population of humans and animals.

Similar drought conditions prevail in Kohistan located in Thatta and Jamshoro districts and Kacho in Dadu districts. The people of area are demanding from the government to declare Kohistan and Kacho as calamity-hit area and waive Abiana dues as the population is facing drought like conditions because of scanty rainfall.

These areas, which are equally affected, are yet to be declared as calamity-hit areas. A number of families along with their cattle are migrating from the hilly terrain of Kohistan and Kacho to barrage areas for want of water. The situation in coastal areas of Thatta and Badin districts is also bad because of deteriorating water quantity and quality.

The arid zones of Sindh represent 17 per cent of the arid land of Pakistan and can be classified as subtropical deserts. They cover an area of over 68,000 km of the province, divided into three even sized distinct regions of Thar, Nara and Kohistan. Out of a total area of 14.09 million hectares (MHA), 9.28 MHA form rangeland.

These three regions comprise of vast sandy tracts broken up by undulating sand dunes and barren mountains. The soil is generally infertile because of severe wind erosion and vegetation consists mostly of stunted scrub and bush although trees such as the kandi (Propos cineraria) occasionally dot the landscape. The nutritive grasses provide fodder for the livestock that comprise cattle, camels, goats, and sheep.

The amount of rainfall varies from year to year and the annual average for some areas is as low as 100mm. Most of the rain falls between July and September over a period of two to three days. Although rain occurs in the form of heavy showers, it creates no runoff. All the rainwater is absorbed by the dehydrated sandy soil. After the rainfall, pastures regenerate and subsoil aquifers get replenished. However, after February, when the dry period starts, the lands get completely grazed and the subsoil water depletes and becomes saline. Sweetwater is scarce throughout the year and drought recurs every third year.

The arid region of Sindh is perhaps one of the most underprivileged areas of the country with extreme poverty, little or no physical infrastructure, a hostile terrain and difficult living conditions. The local population is deprived of basic services.

Various line departments of the government have, at one time or another, initiated a number of schemes for service delivery, but with poor results.

The arid areas of Sindh have a diversity of ecosystems, habitats, and species. Due to overgrazing, degradation of soil cover and frequent droughts, the ecosystem and habitats of wildlife of the arid zones are badly affected.

The trend of uprooting shrubs, cutting trees for fuel wood, and overgrazing due to overstocking and population pressures, are increasing. If this continues, the already exhausted rangelands will not be in a position to support the existing level of livestock population of the arid regions. As a consequence of continuous and uninterrupted degradation of natural resources, the population will have little choice but to migrate to the barrage areas for their livelihood. This trend is already gaining ground rapidly.

Environmental degradation accelerates during periods of drought due to diminished water resources, poor land use activities such as cutting down of trees for fuel wood and charcoal burning for income, bush and range fires and overgrazing.

Environmental degradation in many cases is exacerbated by population pressure and migration of the affected communities to marginal lands. The human factor in environmental degradation does not allow the environment to recover even after the end of the drought period. In some cases, droughts catalyze desertification, leading to loss of natural resources.

Strategies such as reducing the vulnerability of drought prone communities by either altering or strengthening their land use and farming practices needs to be adopted as well as implementing programmes that promote water and food security. The slow onset of drought combined with drought forecasting capabilities also enables implementation of preparedness and preventive plans and measures in advance of the occurrence of the drought disaster. The improvement in recent years in seasonal and long-term climate predictions such as those issued by many national and regional institutes and centres is assisting in the implementation of drought disaster mitigation and implementation of effective drought contingency plans.

The writer is a development professional and executive director, Centre for Environment & Development.