Driven out by drought, Kohistan’s herders make hay while sun shines elsewhere

HYDERABAD: Parial Palari, a herdsman from drought-stricken Kohistan (mountainous area) of Sindh province, camped along with 21 families of same clan under the open sky on the barren land in Union Council Hatri, Hyderabad district, is not sure if or when he will return to his native village.

The families as usual had migrated to canal area last year to rear their animals and find opportunities of labour for survival. Obviously, they live a life of nomadic tribes in makeshift abodes, but they are rich, as they own pieces of family lands ranging from 2-30 acres, besides herds of cattle.

They call it the worst drought, which has forced hundreds of rich families to migrate with their children and animals, leaving their lands behind.

They originally belong to scattered villages of Thana Bola Khan, Jamshoro district, part of Kohistan region of the province, some 60-70 kilometers from the area they live.

Kohistan is a barren hilly tract, where farmers receive water through hill streams coming from long distance during the monsoon season for cultivation. Grazing cattle is the major source of income of the area people.

Whenever faced with drought-like conditions after scanty rainfall, these people migrate to canal areas with families and herds and stay there for a few months.

They return whenever they hear the news of rains in their areas. According to Parial, it is the second consecutive year they are staying here and did not move back because of almost zero rainfall. They are no longer interested in going back to home areas for cultivating lands and rearing animals.

In fact there is a drought in all the arid-zones, Kohistan, Kachho, and Thar desert, but this year, following persistent water scarcity and dryness these people are experiencing the same conditions in Hyderabad district. The area, once a fertile zone now looks like a desert. Hundreds of thousand acres of land have been discarded due to water scarcity.

These Kohistani people have fond memories about that area in Hyderabad. Before this, they said they saw luxuriant grazing fields all around for rearing animals and enough food and work for the families, but that was long ago. Now the situation looks dismal in terms of opportunities of work and grazing land for rearing animals.

These migrant people are early risers and move to gather fodder from different farmlands to feed their animals.

Hundreds of herder families have migrated from Kohistan to other areas. They live in clusters of scattered villages near cities, including Hyderabad, having access to water and fodder.

Men work as daily wagers in agriculture fields, while women and children take care of their animals. They take part in wheat harvest and collect enough stock of grain for their consumption and hay for animals for the whole year.

Palari's family owns 15 goats and 10 cows, which he believes are enough to provide for his five-member family. Besides this, he has two-acre land in his native village in Kohistan, where he cultivates mung-bean and cluster beans during monsoon season, but doesn’t earn enough for survival.

During interviews and talks with these people it was observed that these families never compromise over the needs of their children. They prefer to feed their children first and sell extra milk to meet the needs of kitchen. They feed their children with milk, butter and yogurt. That is why they look comfortable with their kids despite this kind of hard life.

Abdul Hakim Palari, another elderly livestock farmer, who lives in this cluster of migrant families, claims to own 30 acres of land in Kohistan, which he cultivates during rainy season. He has more memorable tales to tell about the blissful bygone days. But now, his family faces hardships due to skimpy rainfall in their areas which has forced them to live far away from their relatives for two consecutive years.

Kohistan is a rain-dependent area, where farmers wait for many years to receive rains to use their family lands and find grasses to feed their animals.

Hakim, the father of six children, has dozens of cows, sheep and goats.

He sells milk to nearby shops and earns a meager income to buy groceries to feed his family.

Abdul Hakim told The News that the name of his native village was Ain Wari (Umar Lasi) in Kohistan, Jamshoro district, and it comprises 150 households. His village does not have schools for children. Almost all families, except a few elderly people always leave their homes and migrate to canal areas and return back after their native villages receive rainfall.

Punhal Palari, also living in this makeshift village, recalls to have been coming here for the last 15 years. They always spend five-six months or more there before returning back to their areas only after rains that might take even two-three years to fall.

Sometimes their home-going delays for three-four years, like recently they are experiencing the worst kind of drought in their native areas. They migrate because they can neither cultivate lands, nor rear animals, owing to drought.

Punhal said animals were there banks. “We sell our animals whenever we need and receive a certain amount to run domestic affairs,” Punhal said.

There is cattle market known as Wednesday Market, near national highways, where they put their animals up for sale. They pay entry fees of Rs600 each for big animals and Rs200 each for small animals, like goat and sheep.

"We cannot ask about traders either they are butchers or breeders, we sell our product. We avoid dealing with middlemen and directly deal with traders in local market,” the Kohistani herder said.

Experts believe that there is need of at least 300 millimeter of rains to avoid drought. The recent phenomenon shows that the areas either receive bellow 100 millimeter rain or does not receive rain at all. In result, the people are facing hardships to rear their animals, feed their children, and earn a living to run their families.

Kohistan like other arid zones of Sindh province is experiencing the severe drought for many recent years. The government has declared eight districts as natural calamity-affected zones. However, there obviously are little relief packages for Thar desert people. Otherwise, the all the arid zones are under in the grip of drought.

For these herders it seems the drought conditions are regular, forcing them to migrate in search of water and food for families. Anyway, despite tall claims by the provincial government, the migrant herdsmen having hundreds of heads are yet to attract government's livestock department for vaccination or any support in the difficult times.

The only demand of the government to help them take better care of their animals to avoid any catastrophic challenges, especially an outbreak of a deadly disease that can wipe out animal populations in days and months.