A deficient monsoon could significantly impact agriculture and life pattern, particularly in Sindh.
LAHORE: The Met Office in Karachi has warned of extreme drought conditions in the south, particularly Sindh and Balochistan. The country as a whole could be faced with the prospect of 30 to 60 per cent less monsoon rains. A deficient monsoon could significantly impact agriculture and life pattern, particularly in Sindh. The productivity of cotton, rice, sugarcane and vegetables, both in the rain-fed and irrigated areas of Sindh, could be set back dramatically. Predicted rainfall for the northern parts of the country is no better either with just the usual amount of rain.
Some of the worst droughts occurred in 1969, 1987, 1991 and in 2002 when there was a deficiency of 75 to 90 per cent in rainfall (it is ironic that the Water Apportionment Accord was signed in 1991).
Earlier this year, the South Asian Climate Outlook Forum had forecasted a weak June to September monsoon for large swathes of Pakistan, India and Bangladesh this year. The forum had also warned that the deficient summer monsoon could affect agriculture-based economies in South Asia.
Isn’t it a crying shame that we let 18 million acre feet of priceless water flow down to the sea last year when one third of this water could have been be saved by the Kalabagh Dam to make droughts a thing of the past. What if the rains don’t come to save our skin but the extreme drought does come as predicted — food for thought for the editors, columnists and the enlightened people like Hashim Abro in Sindh.
Engr Khurshid Anwer
Published in The Express Tribune, July 1st, 2014.
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