DC for declaring Tharparkar as drought-hit area

SUKKUR: The Deputy Commissioner Thar Ghulam Qadir Junejo on Thursday has asked senior member of the Board of Revenue Sindh to declare Tharparkar district as the drought-hit.

In his letter, Junejo said the assistant commissioners and Mukhtiarkars have reported extreme shortage of fodder and grass due to drought conditions. Fodder is critically important for the livestock which is the mainstay for the desert economy.

The DC has further potrayed a picture of helplessness of the people unable to live off the livestock which is turning into a serious situation. Water storages in the area have also depleted, the officials say.

Based on the report, the DC has called for declaring all areas falling in Mithi, Chhachhro, Nagarparkar, Diplo, Dahil and Kaloi tehsils as drought-hit, besides recommending relief package for the people of the arid zone.

As a standard administrative protocol since the time of the British Raj, the government declares the desert region as calamity hit if it does not receive sufficient rains by Aug 15. Subsequent to notification of calamity, the government announces relief packages for the area.

Meanwhile, as many seven more infants died in the last two days at Civil Hospital, Mithi taking the toll of children dying in the last eight months due to malnutrition and outbreak of infections to 398, family and hospital sources confirmed.

Talking to group of mediamen, the parents of the dead and the ailing children complained of acute shortage of life-saving drugs in the government-run hospitals of the district.Meanwhile, a large number of people from various parts of Tharparkar are undertaking seasonal migration to the Barage areas of Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umerkot and other districts as the drought stuck desert region is suffering from the worst spate of natural calamity.

In a related development, several Tharparkar based NGOs working on the health and nutrition sector have asked the Sindh government to take urgent measures to mitigate the massive human suffering.

Dr Tanweer Ahmed of Health and Nutrition Development Society, an NGO working on health and nutrition issues of the region, asked the Sindh government to step in and launch a massive relief operation to prevent the catastrophe from taking any further human toll.