Left in the lurch, villagers do it on self-help basis

Two weeks ago, the youth of Muhammad Malook Shar village had decided to connect their marooned village with rest of Sindh. They started collecting donations and successfully restored the main road which was submerged after heavy rains since last week of August.

The next challenge the villagers have been facing is draining out water that swamped their agricultural fields and surrounding areas. "The stagnant water impedes the next sowing season which we expect within a few weeks," said Engineer Tanveer, a local resident. "We do not see and expect any help. We believe in our own power," he told The Express Tribune.

The village, comprising about 250 families, is half a kilometer away from Thari Mirwah city, the taluka headquarters which has also been under water for the last one and half month.

The villagers have arranged a tractor, started pumping out water through pipes into a natural drain in the area, and believe it will be released into Nara desert. "Not only in this village but people in other villages are also clearing water on a self-help basis," he claimed.

Rabnawaz Baloch, another resident of the village, told The Express Tribune that an hour of dewatering operation costs around Rs1,800. "The process will continue for the next few days and we will reclaim our fields for cultivation of the next wheat crop," he hoped.

Like elsewhere in Pakistan, wheat is a staple in Sindh. Wheat season is very important for its rural population because they stock it for consumption until the next season. "The heavy rains have already ruined the rural economy and if they do not harvest the next crop, it will spell another disaster for them," Baloch said.

It was also learnt that the villagers have approached the local administration and public representatives for help in dewatering, but to no avail. "No one listens to us. No one even visited our area," he added.

Though the villagers have started dewatering their fields, they fear that they might not get water for their wheat crop. "The water in canals is toxic and not fit for irrigation," Baloch said. "It is a strange situation that we want to get rid of this water [stagnant water] and need [fresh] water after a few weeks," he said. "We are just making preparation for the next season. We hope everything will be fine in coming weeks," Tanveer said, adding that the villagers were trying to clear only 300 acres of their agricultural land.

Published in The Express Tribune, October 6^th, 2022.