Listen to this articleBy G.R Junejo
The residents of Tharparkar are facing immense difficulties due to severe shortage of water levels in the underground wells of the region. Following the water crisis, the residents of the area are forced to travel to far-flung areas to buy water from the tankers which sell it at higher rates.
A resident of Sataar, a village in Tharparker, Baasi Chandu Kolhi while talking to Pak Voices expressed the gravity of the situation saying, “Previously we used to go three kilometers to get water but now because of rising temperatures the water level in the wells have decreased due to which we have to walk seven kilometers and buy water at higher rates.”
The government had installed Reverse Osmosis (RO) Plants for the provision of clean water but recently they stopped functioning disrupting the supply of water. Because of this reason, the residents of Mithi, Islamkot, a town of Tharparker, are forced to drink saline water or purchase water at a higher price.
On the other hand, the RO plants installed at Mithi are not sufficient to fulfill the water demand of the people residing there as it is only supplying five lac gallons water as compared to fifteen lac gallons demand of the area.
Underground wells are drying out at a fast pace due to which residents get little water after waiting for a very long time. Along with the people, the cattle have to suffer as they are given water after three or four days.
There have been reports of an outbreak of diarrhea among children and elders due to the lack of water and the use of saline water.
Kolhi further added that the usage of saline water is causing a lot of health issues to the people especially children, adding that, “it is a difficult condition for both our children and our cattle and we don’t know whether we should work for livelihood or spend all our time searching for water for survival.”
