Deaths of nearly 200 people, most of them children and women, in the Thar Desert of Pakistan in the last four months show that the underdeveloped region is once again in the grip of a humanitarian crisis. Located in the southeast, the largest desert of Pakistan has nearly 1.2 million population, with the lowest Human Development Index in the Sindh province. Thar has been confronting harsh drought conditions in recent years. Masses rely on rain-fed agriculture and livestock for their livelihoods. Consistent droughts have hit a severe blow to both the agriculture and livestock, resulting in famine. This has led to seasonal mass migration of local residents to other parts of Sindh where they are forced to work in inhuman conditions and are poorly paid.
There is scarcity of water in underground wells and natural reservoirs in the wake of below-average rainfall. Women who usually are responsible for fetching drinking water have to travel three-four kilometres to get it from underground wells. Water is saline and is contaminated with excessive fluoride, which causes dental and skeletal diseases. Severe water shortage has resulted in deaths of thousands of animals and birds. To resolve the water-issue, government and some local nongovernmental organisations have set up Reverse Osmosis plants in some villages but these are insufficient to meet the growing demands of a rapidly growing population. Hygienic and sanitation conditions are also dismal. More than 80 percent of the households do not have toilet facilities, forcing many to defecate in open fields. Women often have to wait till night to relieve themselves.
Literacy rate in Thar is below 17 percent, according to a representative of AlifAilan, an organisation working on issues related to education in Pakistan. And the female literacy rate is a mere seven percent. Cultural constraints, extreme poverty and lack of basic educational facilities such as teachers, toilets, furniture are the factors contributing to extreme illiteracy. People are not aware even of their basic rights. Ancient traditions like marriage in early age and treatment of a disease from apothecary are rampant. Women work in fields the entire day with the male members of the family or community. At home they take care of children and elders, along with doing household duties.Young girls are sometimes sent to look after the cattle in fields in case of illness of a male worker.
When women do difficult physical work under the scorching sun from dawn to dusk and do not get enough calories in diet to meet body needs, there is a certainty of suffering from mental and health problems.Their miseries worsen when they are married in young age and become reproductive tools. During pregnancy there is no concept of medical check-up due to sheer ignorance and unavailability of medical facilities. Eventually, working women who are physically weak give birth to weak babies. Sometimes birth cases attended by unskilled midwives lead to complications, resulting in death of newborns and/or their mothers
Apart from the district headquarter of Tharparker, Mithi, a small city, most villages in Thar do not have doctors. Nurses, health technicians and other paramedic staff have illegally assumed the responsibility of health specialists. Merely a small number of villages have Basic Health Units, and many of them are non-functional.
In case of emergency and serious illness patients are taken to cities like Mithi and Umerkot. However, lack of transportation and absence of roads make it difficult to reach on time. Many patients succumb to illness or emergency on the way. City hospitals are overcrowded and have no good specialists, and there are a few laboratories that carry out only ordinary tests. Usually, medicines are recommended to patients without undergoing tests. Poor families who cannot afford transportation and other expenses blame their fate for untimely deaths.
Provincial government and some local NGOs have taken some measures to provide relief to the drought-hit region. Teams of doctors have been visiting to provide much-needed healthcare assistance. Wheat, rice, mineral water bottles and biscuits have been distributed. However, the relief measures are slow and insufficient. The relief agencies continue their operations as long as the Thar crisis remains in the headlines of national media. Once the attention wanes, everyone turns a blind eye to the issue.
The present situation in Thar calls for a sustainable socio-economic development. Government, local NGOs and international humanitarian agencies need to be actively involved to help decrease the crisis. Instead of pursing short-term goals, long-term development plans should be devised and local residents must be made a part of it. Provision of education to both males and females must be the top priority. Setting up of basic health facilities and supply of clean drinking water will greatly reduce the mortality and morbidity rate in Thar.
Establishment of dairy industry and meat production units will create new economic opportunities in the area. Modern ways of farming to yield more crops must be taught to local farmers by imparting vocational training.These steps will bring a great positive change in the lives of local inhabitants, and will resolve the Thar issue permanently.
The writer is a postgraduate student in political science at the University of Sindh