Daily Times

The month-long dry weather all over Hazara division created drought, affect the standing crop, fruit orchards and also created a shortage of clean drinking water. The farmers are worried about their losses caused by the dry weather.

During the last month, no major rain has been reported in the Hazara division and this is likely to prevail in the coming few days. Besides the shortage of water for irrigation clean drinking water has also become short and people in the hilly areas of all 8 districts of the region are facing an acute shortage of water and they bring water from far-flung areas as most natural springs are dried.

The situation is even worst in some hilly areas of districts Haripur, Abbottabad, Mansehra and Kohistan. If the condition of drought persists in the Hazara division then locally produced fruits and wheat would be badly damaged.

Wheat crop farmers from Haripur to Battagram districts are worried due to dry weather as their standing crop is in peril, while fruit orchards are also facing an acute shortage of irrigation water. The farmers have also requested the ulema and people for special prayers for rain.

Besides the issue of farmers in the main Manshera city, most of the people are using water tanker for their domestic needs, availability of the drinking water of the municipal committee was very short and moreover many tube wells are out of order. The dry weather also affects the health of the people and many seasonal diseases including cough, sour throat and flue becoming common in the area nowadays.