If floodwater stands for some time and is not drained — a likely scenario — adults, children face infectious diseases.
MITHI: Tharparkar roughly has a population of one million and its livestock population is four times larger. Rain is sparse and falls only in the monsoon, which lasts from June till August. Even then, the average annual rainfall hardly exceeds a couple of hundred millimetres (mm) and we are lucky if it crosses 300 mm. Usually, there is no migration of people and livestock, but if there is no rain, then around half the population will migrate to a nearby area where there are canals. People who migrate in this manner have to endure all kinds of hardship. For starters, in most cases, their children do not go to school. Since there is now a need to earn income to sustain a large family, many of the children work. Also, during the monsoon, especially if there are flash floods, these people stand to lose a major part of their livestock — something that tragically happened in the floods of 2010 and 2011. If the floodwater stands for some time and is not drained away — a likely scenario — adults and children face infectious diseases such as diarrhoea, gastro infections and others. In the absence of a banking system in the area, these people will then end up borrowing from local moneylenders, often at interest rates as exorbitant as 100 per cent and they will use this money to buy food and fodder for their remaining livestock and for medical treatment.
Around 400,000 of the local population are Dalits or low-caste Hindus. There was a time when they were not allowed to eat in the same crockery as Muslims and the latter in many cases, wouldn’t even shake hands with them. A lot of them were involved in tanneries and would handle the hides of dead animals, as if their vocation was indicative of their low-caste status. However, over the years, things changed. The Sindh government set up a centre to manufacture carpets in Mithi town in the 1950s and many Dalits obtained employment there. At the same time, cottage industries emerged in the villages of Tharparkar. However, once a metalled road was built, thousands of these people sought employment opportunities in Karachi and now thousands work in the city’s garment factories. And they use ATMs and facilities like Easy Paisa to safely remit their earnings back to their families in Tharparkar.
Dr Khataumal
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2013.
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