Daily Times

KARACHI: Known for its agriculture, Sindh’s Sanghar district has been suffering an acute water crisis for the past two months. Most of the settlements in this mineral-rich district get water from the Nara Canal, an excavated waterway that was built off the left bank of the Indus River into the course of the old Nara River. But for last two months, there has been no water, not even for drinking.

On March 31, PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the Benazir Bhutto Fresh Water Project to provide drinking water from Nara Canal to 85 villages of Achro Thar or White Desert, a unique desert of Sindh with less vegetation and moving sand dunes. Under the scheme, a 56-kilometre-long main pipeline and 185-kilometer connecting lines have been laid to ensure water supply to 85 villages dotting the dry desert. This unique desert has a deep aquifer and mostly ground water is found at 300 to 500 feet deep and the area is rain dependent. Rainwater stored in small ponds is consumed by humans as well as livestock throughout the year.

“There was water in the pipes on the day when Bilawal (Bhutto Zardari) inaugurated the scheme, but since then, we have seen only dry pipelines,” said Haji Khan Dars, a resident of Ranahoo village of Achro Thar. “Due to acute water shortage, people are buying water from tankers that bring water from remote areas. The prolonged power shutdowns have worsened the situation in the sizzling summer,” said Advocate Muhammad Qazafi Tanoli, a resident of Sanghar city.

On contact, Ashfaq Memon, the executive engineer of the Sindh Irrigation Department’s Thar Division Mirpurkhas, confirmed to Daily Times that there was a crisis of drinking water. “It is not a local issue, there is no water in River Indus system and Indus River System Authority (IRSA) has ordered closer of water in different canals across Sindh,” Memon told Daily Times over telephone.

He further said that not just Sanghar district but all the districts, cities and towns on Nara and Rohri canals have no water at all. “We are expecting water in the first week of May,” he said.

In Khipro, a major city in Sanghar district, water shortage has suspended routine life. “We are not going to work, since we are spending all our time in search of water. Tanker water is too expensive for us to buy,” said Sarwan Kumar, a resident of Garibabad Colony, Khipro.

In Khahi city, annoyed farmers took to the streets and held a protest demonstration and burnt tyres to express their anger earlier in the week. “This is the season of cotton sowing, but there is no water for human consumption and we believe that this is an artificial shortage ahead of general elections,” said Maulvi Abdul Haq, a grower of Khahi Town.

“The irrigation department announced to release water on April 16, but still there is no water due to which several cities and towns including Khipro, Dhilyaar, Bhit Bhaiti, Khahi, Girhor Sharif, Pithoro are suffering with acute shortage,” said Tahir Mari, a local journalist of Khahi Town.

Sanghar is known as the cotton district of the province and is leads in terms of cotton production in the country, but this year, the crop will also suffer due to the water scarcity, according to growers.

“We welcome water scheme for Achro Thar by PPP chairman Bilawal Bhutto Zardari, but he should also ensure that the other parts of the district get drinking water and water for crops,” demanded Akhtar Ali, a resident of Khipro.

Published in Daily Times, April 30^th 2018.