Well-known woes

Around 87% of Tharis lives under the poverty line; nearly 500 children die annually due to malnutrition

Thar is rich in natural resources — a fact well-known. The arid land has coal in abundance which is now being used to generate cheap electricity to meet the growing energy needs of the country. The landscape of the desert region is dotted with multi-coloured hills of granite — a hard stone being used in construction industry across the length and breadth of the country. Salt lakes develop naturally in Thar from the accumulating rainwater; and according to local officials, the dessert district has more than one hundred salt mines from where this life essential is collected and refined for use. No wonder why the region is billed the Energy Capital of Pakistan, with experts believing that adequate development of these resources can provide long-term energy security to the country.

But this largest district of Sindh in terms of land is as neglected as it is resource-rich. The sorry plight of the area is manifested in the deaths that not only come from lack of food and water, but also from man-made miseries resulting from poor healthcare facilities and lack of sanitation and waste management. Statistics corroborate the anecdotal evidence. A mammoth 87% of the population in Thar lives under the poverty line; less than half the population has access to drinking water; nearly 500 children die every year due to malnutrition and infections, according to media reports; and high maternal mortality rate in the district is evident from the fact that there are 121 male per 100 females as against the national level of 106 per 100 females.

And for years and years there has been no significant progress on social indictors in the drought-stricken region. Sindh Human Rights Commission chairperson Justice (retd) Majida Rizvi has — after a recent visit to the place — drawn attention towards the age-long miseries of Tharis that are now resulting in “increasing number of suicides by men, women, young girls, children and even couples”. When will the authorities wake up to the woes well-known!

Published in The Express Tribune, December 10^th, 2019.

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