By Shujauddin Qureshi
A picture of a dead woman with her deceased child is under
circulation on social media these days as its caption states that both had died
because of thirst in Katchho area in Dadu district. According to reports, they had
lost their way in the semi-hilly arid area in Johi Taluka as their water
bottles dried up after some time and there was no other source of water
around. Their tragic deaths portray the worst situation of water
availability in many areas of Sindh.
On daily basis, we receive news about the citizens’ protests
in Badin district against water shortage, whereas there are other far-flung areas
where people are unable to raise their voices against the shortage of the basic
necessities of life – water.
It is pity that the state of Pakistan has never thought
about the plight of these people. The government has never seriously considered
providing water to the arid areas, despite the fact many projects were
initiated in the past.
Except for the areas, which are close to River Indus or its canal
system, many areas in Sindh are dry and arid where water is unavailable, and even
the subsoil water sources are depleting due to climate and ecological changes. Katcho
and Kohistan (in Dadu and Jamshoro districts) and Thar (including Achhro Thar)
are the major geographical areas, where people are deprived of water.
Most of the population migrates from these areas in search of water, but those
who cannot afford to migrate have to walk for miles to fetch water for daily
consumption. I know many areas in Thatta and Badin districts are also facing
water shortages despite the fact the irrigation system exists in those areas.
That issue is the mismanagement of the water distribution system by the most corrupt provincial
Irrigation department, which allows the influential landlords to steal the water of
the tail-end users.
But where there is no canal system, no alternate water source is available and the government has never tried to provide water to those areas. The areas along Khirthar's hilly range spread in the right borders of Sindh are the most thirty areas.
Mother Nature has also kept these arid areas deprived of water sources and they mostly rely on rain waters. Rains in Sindh areas are declining due to various reasons including climate change and man-made depletion of forest cover due to the greed of the landlords who have acquired leases of the forest lands and cut the trees to use the land for agricultural purposes.
Katchho is naturally a deprived area of water. Although
some natural waterways are available, they have been destroyed due to faulty
development. For example, Main Nara Valley (MNV) drain used to flow from the Katchho
area but due to the incomplete Right Bank Outfall Drain project, that source of
water is unavailable these days. This major artery has been converted into a cesspool
of gutter water carrying the most polluted saline water from industries, municipal
and agricultural lands in upper parts of Sindh, Balochistan and Southern Punjab.
This water is ultimately discharged into Manchhar lake, which is already destroyed.
The Chief Minister of Sindh, Chief Justice of Sindh High
Court or any other authority has still not been moved by this sad picture as
they have not taken any notice of this double death of a mother and her child
in the Katchho area due to thirst. After some time, we would also forget this
picture and the plight of the Katchho people would continue forever.
