s soon as the first few drops of rain touch the parched Thar desert, people start collecting rainwater in tanks. Men, women and children assemble to collect water from the rooftops of their houses with pots and buckets and pour it into cisterns and tanks nearby. This process continues until either the water tanks are full or the rain stops.

This is the story of the Helario Peer village, around 30 kilometres away from Mithi, the capital town of the Tharparkar district.

“Thar is thirsty for water. Rainwater harvesting is our traditional activity. We have been taught this by our forefathers,” says Tulja Ram, 30. “We collect rainwater for drinking, washing clothes and other domestic purposes,” he adds.

Tulja Ram lives hundreds of miles away from his village in Hyderabad, the second-largest city of Sindh, where he works as a teacher, visiting his family once a month or on occasions like a wedding.

A third of Pakistan’s land was submerged recently after a catastrophic spell of torrential rains across the country. However, for the people in Thar the rains were a rare and welcome blessing. They had been desperate for water.

During the summer vacation this year, Ram had arrived home at a fortunate time. The first monsoon rain had vanquished the scorching heat that typically dominates July and August. Ram, his wife and other family members were enjoying the monsoon rain.

Ram is not the only one in the area who stores rainwater. There are hundreds of people in the village, and there are thousands of people in other villages in the desert who start storing water whenever it rains.

Rainwater harvesting is a crucial activity for agro-pastoralists in Thar. These farming communities aid the rehabilitation of the ecosystem after long periods of drought.

Another Thar resident, Narain Jaipal says, “Thar is Thar with the rain. If there were no rain, then Thar would be a wasteland.” He adds smiling, “Now, an ample amount of rainwater has been stored. We will use it for three or four dry months.”

Preparations for harvesting rainwater, such as cleaning the roofs of the houses, begin as soon as the rainy season starts, Jaipal adds. He notes that this is linked to the motivated nature of Thar’s people. He believes that the people of Thar never miss an opportunity. They are aware how important the rainwater is.

According to Jaipal, rainwater is extremely important to his community. He says, “Water is life. It is very difficult to survive without a lot of water. Many people here are mainly pastoralists. Every year they look for fodder and water for their animals - cows, goats, sheep, camels and others.” Migrating to the barrage land, the animals drink more water. It is very difficult to get it from the wells.

Rainwater harvesting through traditional methods

In Thar, every drop of water counts. During the rainy season, everybody places small containers on their household, water cans, jerry cans - anything they can get their hands on. Water is collected from the rooftops through pipes and metallic nozzles locally known as “naro“. As small containers fill up with water, they are emptied into large water tanks.

Apart from this, rainwater is collected by laying plastic sheets in the courtyards and from catchment areas in naturally formed reservoirs or man-made depressions for livestock. Being a subtropical and climatic desert, Thar is entirely dependent on the monsoon season for water. There is no significant tendency to grow crops or vegetables on a large scale.

Rainwater harvesting is a crucial activity for agro-pastoralists in Thar. These farming communities aid the rehabilitation of the ecosystem after long periods of drought.

Man-made water tanks

These tanks are constructed from a mixture of cement and sand. Usually the tanks are five to eight feet long, four to five feet in width, and likewise in depth. Frequently in use these days after the monsoon, the tanks will remain dry for the rest of the year. Water tanks are placed beside the home or at a corner of the house’s yard on the ground and covered with concrete slabs.

“We use rainwater more carefully than petrol. Petroleum is easily accessible, but collecting water in the Thar is a challenge,” says Ram. “Sometimes, while fetching water from deep wells, a whole day will be spent for a few gallons of water,” he adds.

This village is densely populated. There are more than 2,000 families. None of them have a perennial supply of safe drinking water. Most of them use brackish water for domestic cleaning.

According to various research studies, ground water in Tharparkar is not potable due to salinity. Many research and medical institutions, including the World Health Organisation, have declared the water harmful, but due to a lack of an alternative, some of the Thar people are still forced to drink it. No wonder many of them suffer from various illnesses including hepatitis, stomach diseases and poor skin, teeth, bones and joints.

Pakistan is the third most water-stressed country on the planet. It must address it existential water shortages by 2025, according to the IMF, the UNDP, and the Pakistan’s Council for Research on Water Resources.

Rs 64,000 for

drinking water

The Thar desert is home to 16 million people. 90 per cent of them lack access to safe drinking water.

The situation is improving slowly. However, the wounds of a catastrophic drought are still open. According to Tulja Ram, very few financially sound families can afford water supplied by tankers. These Tankers come from Mithi city.

A small tanker costs approximately Rs 8,000; earier the amount used to be Rs 5,000. This means an annual cost Rs 64,000 to purchase enough drinking water.

Water collection

Most Thar residents bring drinking water from adjacent areas. Villagers, including women and children, get up early in the morning and take off to visit the sweet water wells, often three to five kilometres away.

These wells are usually dug around cultivated fields. Both men and women fetch the water using water bags locally called “chharahi“ and a long “dori“ or rope that is as long as the depth of the well. They will often wait for hours for their turn at the well.

A middle-aged woman dressed in traditional attire is seen supporting a veil. Without sharing her name, she says the people of Thar have to suffer great hardship just to collect water. They have to either carry heavy vessels or “matkas“ on their heads or carry rubber barrels and gallon jugs. This is a daily routine.

Sons, brothers and other male members of the house going to fetch water, return on donkeys and camels carrying water in rubber tubes and animal skin bags called “pakahals.“

“The deeper the well, the longer and heavier the rope, and the greater the effort required,” says a resident. “Water is pulled up from the well using a rope”, he says. No more than four to five litres of water can be pulled out in one go.

The system runs on a first come-first served basis. People often help one another, especially women, who come in groups to fetch water from the wells.

Locals say up to five hours a day is spent collecting water for the household. The chore has to be done regardless of the weather.

Non-functional

RO plant

There is only one reverse osmosis (RO) plant in the village. It was installed by the provincial government but is rarely operational. Residents say that there is no fuel available to operate the plant. They regret that millions of rupees worth of machinery has been lying nonfunctional for a long time. They want the authorities to take notice of this and install more water tanks for the villagers to store rainwater.

Adaptation to the climate pattern

The Thari people have adapted to the erratic weather patterns and calibrated their agricultural practices to extreme weather events.

For the past two decades, Thar has suffered on account of seasonal droughts and climate emergencies.

They facing many problems but water supply is one of the most significant among those.

We have to adopt a modern model

Ali Akbar Rahimon, a water expert and executive director of the Association for Water, Applied Education and Renewable Energy (AWARE) says that essential rainwater harvesting in Tharparkar has historically been done using traditional methods. This provides great benefits to the people. Unfortunately, due to the lack of an official mechanism to direct rainwater collection on a larger scale, we miss out on big opportunities and the locals lose out on the potential benefits.

Rahimon said that the rains in the 2022 have broken 40-year record. This has recharged the water table in Thar, especially in Kharur, Nangarparkar, Diplo and Dahli tehsils. People will be able to benefit from this for three to four years.

He adds that although there are some small dams near Nangarparkar, the water they store cannot be used for drinking.

Rahimon says up-scaling rainwater harvesting requires coordination among several departments and the communities.

He adds that obsolete approaches will no longer work, and that there is a need for a modern model. He says the policy makers have to think not only about the intensity of the rainfall but also the potential of putting it to use.

The Sindh government, he says, should take concrete steps in this direction by making a coherent policy related to sustainable rainwater collection.

The discovery of coal has made Thar rich and large companies are investing millions of dollars. However, the indigenous tribes are still bearing the burden of poverty. It is not their destiny but the circumstances and the apathy of the governments that has brought them to where they find themselves today.

The writer is a  Hyderabad-based  journalist. He has been writing on climate change, wildlife and marginalised communities for over a decade.