Essential for life: ‘Cholistan severely water stressed’

Residents say their cattle are dying because of water shortage.

BAHAWALPUR:

“Many residents of Cholistan may be forced soon to migrate because of a lack of water… as most ponds [tobas] need cleaning,” Al-Sadiq Desert Welfare Organisation president Riaz Baloch said on Saturday.

Addressing a press conference at a restaurant in Bahawalpur, Baloch said there were 1,100 tobas in Cholistan. He said 80 per cent of these were no longer operational.

He said the lives of 150,000 people were being affected by the water shortage.

“No funds have been allocated by the government for the cleaning of tobas this year… the capacity of these ponds to store water is declining,” he said.

Baloch said the Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) had constructed 92 tobas that all needed maintenance.

“The rainwater is being wasted…four years ago Cholistan Development Department received a Rs450 million budget which is now down to RS70 million.” He said the water supply scheme had also shut down.

Cholistan residents Muhammad Umar Farooq, Tariq Parvez, Najma Bibi and Imam Bakhsh said that their cattle were dying because of water shortage.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 15^th, 2013.