Balochistan was last in the grip of a famine a little less than eight years ago. And already the province is facing up to the prospect of another spell of famine. Despite the seriousness of the threat, we all are oblivious to the plight of the Baloch once again.
There have been no rains in almost all major areas of Balochistan. The drought-hit areas include Gwadar, Qila Abdullah, Qila Saifullah, Pishin, Chagai, Ziarat, Khuzdar, Loralai, Zhob, Musa Khail, Barkhan, Kohlu Naushki and adjoining areas. Yet does anyone care to take any measures?
The vegetation covered areas have been affected and people cannot grow fodder for their livestock, which are a basic source of food such as meat and milk. The province mainly relies on agriculture and livestock while merely 25 per cent of the workforce is employed in office jobs. This small population might be less severely affected by the drought.
Environmentalists say that the one billion rupees announced by the Balochistan government to counter the drought and famine conditions will barely trickle down to all of the far-flung areas of the province. There is also no contingency plan to cope with the situation. Neither is there any media presence in these regions, so most newspapers and TV channels do not have any knowledge of the trouble that Balochistan is going through. The situation in interior Balochistan is such that people are unable to afford a meal a day and often do not have access to clean drinking water. Moreover, there is also no infrastructure to reach areas that have been affected by drought.
People in the Makran division, Noshki, Chagai, Khuzdar, Kalat, Mastung and northern parts of the province have been suffering for the last two decades due to natural disasters, but little heed has been paid to these haunting humanitarian crises.
Neither the federal nor the provincial government seems to care about the suffering of the poor people. When I asked Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch as to why international help had not been tapped, he could not answer, but replied with the vague argument: “We should not make this controversial”. His helplessness was obvious and disappointing.
The funds allocated by the previous governments for development and contingency plans in drought-hit areas were misused and embezzled. Once again, the funds released by the provincial government would see the same fate. Since there is no media in Balochistan, such serious issues will continue to be ignored.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 22nd, 2014.
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