Daily Times

Away from the urban pell-mell and ruckus, Tharparkar; the epitome of natural beauty and calmness, sits quietly on vast expanse of sandy landscape. Thar’s serenity has its unique pleasant din felt far and wide. More adds to this aural pleasure the lonely whiz of wind caresses the top of dunes. No less agreeable is the distant tinkle emanates from Thari cows’ bell while the beast struggles to ascend mound in search of pasture. Alas! The playfully jumping around flocks of deer which once used to be part of pristine beauty of Tharparkar are now close to extinct thanks to poachers’ hunting expedition. The beautiful peafowl’s hither-thither frolicking has almost ceased as the bird has been facing a serious epidemic for the last several years. Oft-reported acute malnourishment in the children has been proving fatal for the last couple of years. Continual drought telling upon the beauty of the flora and fauna of Tharparkar adds more misery to life here. Perhaps the drought and death have now unfortunately become synonymous with Tharparkar’s name. The desert traversing from Karoonjar mountain to Umerkot and Sanghar districts of Sindh wears an appealing look certainly beseeching for a helping intervention. Umar-Maruvi folk romance fame Tharparkar is in throes. Wish the disquieting unease rouses Sindh government from its slumber!

Other day, Bilawal Bhutto Zardari in a statement on World Wildlife Day said: “Protection of wildlife was a collective human responsibility to nature and called for more effective efforts to save the flora and fauna in Pakistan. Sindh government was continuing the policies of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto who had declared Khirthar National Park in Sindh, Khunjerab National Park and Naltar Wildlife Sanctuary in Gilgit-Baltistan among several small and big sanctuaries across the country.” Someone should have reminded Mr. Bhutto-Zardari that mere recalling the wildlife sanctuaries declared by his maternal grandfather doesn’t serve the purpose here. Bilawal and his party bigwigs are too busy (in chores) to pay attention to this forlorn land of legendary folk singers Mai Bhagi and Saddiq Faqeer (late) which is in state of despair.

Wildlife department’s dereliction and lethargy have lethally worked pushing this beautiful pheasant bird almost to the point of extinct. In view of the caring attitude of people this fowl is often seen perching on the roof-top of the houses in Kantiyo and Mithrio areas en route to Mithi, the district headquarter of Tharparkar where benignant hands feed them. It is spring season now when the temperature is moderate and surroundings are supposed to flourish. Thus the otherwise hot summer weather cannot be the reason causing disease and death of the bird.

Other serious issue in Tharparkar is the child mortality. The recent hue and cry over the rising graph of child mortality mainly due to malnutrition invited the attention of Sindh government but the notice taken by administration was only sufficient to respond media reports. Hundreds of children died in the continual famine like situation as mortality graph could not be checked so far. And how can it be when there is a single hospital located in district headquarter Mithi that is also lacking the staff and required paraphernalia. Doctors posted at Tharparkar are unwilling to serve as area is hard and have no modern day communication facilities. Not paying attention to area development is sheer negligence of government of Sindh. And not ensuring humanitarian assistance for famine hit people is deplorable.

Despite NGOs footprints and their claims with regard to poverty alleviation efforts the fate of Thari populace hasn’t changed for some good. The understandable reason is that such welfare activities are not organized in efficient manner. A couple of years back Tharparkar found its way to entrepreneurial urban discussions after the coal reserves discovered (in abundance) and contracts signed to exploit the same. Engro Mining Company is presently engaged in extraction of coal and development of allied infrastructure but project is perhaps in its initial phase. People are frequenting hitherto ignored part of land to commit capital in coal business for profit. Coal extracting activity and raising small allied industrial units are likely to create employment opportunities in Tharparkar. But there has been growing concern of locals over the location of a dam site at Gorano village near Islamkot town which they claim would cause environmental degradation.

Tharparkar is rain-fed area facing continual spell of the absence of rain perhaps due to some ecological changes forcing climatic factors to be un-inducing to rain. This paves way for poverty to make cruel inroads in the socio-economic life of people. The latter usually shift to barrage irrigated agro-based areas or to urban pockets like Mirpurkhas, Hyderabad, Karachi etc to do some odd jobs to eke out livelihood. PPP led Government of Sindh is as usual mired in inefficiency and malpractices but again Thari populace has to appeal to government machinery for succour. Government must ensure due share in jobs for local people in companies engaged in developing Thar coal. The business ventures must spend the amount these have to under CSR (corporate social responsibility) for local area uplift. A Thari being less educated and a bit non-technical probably stands less fit in a sophisticated job. Government should arrange for their required training in technical institutes to be established with the assistance of Engro and other outfits already engaged in coal extraction.

Efforts may be made that the non-locals should not get domicile with intent to prove their status as local to get employment. This fraudulent practice is widespread elsewhere in country as well. While that said care must be taken that environment degradation is not taking place due to unwise operations of industrial plants. Tharparkar is blessed with a clean environment and natural beauty. Its flora and fauna needs to be saved by practicing international standards for environment protection so that the ecological balance and biodiversity are maintained. Onus lies on the Sindh Environment Protection Agency (Sepa) to honestly assess the situation being above temptations and pressures of any hue. Sindh government’s lackluster performance in governance matters elsewhere in province strengthens the apprehensions of hapless Tharis fearing environmental mess jeopardizing the immaculate and gleaming beauty of the area. Industrial or any activity designed to lessen the poverty in Tharparkar or to add to the prosperity of country must continue but efforts may be made to protect Tharparkar’s natural beauty wherein lives its innocent serenity.

Writer is freelance and presently working on a paper researching rural crime and causes. He can be reached on twitter @M_ABaloch