Respite from drought: The dunes change colour as rain falls on Thar
Residents welcome rain, admit it only creates enough green pasture for livestock.
This is the second spell of rain in Mithi this week. On Wednesday, the local Met office recorded the rainfall, which came with strong winds and thunderstorm and lasted for around 30 minutes, at four millimetres. PHOTO: ONLINE
HYDERABAD:
The heavens opened, although fleetingly, in the famine-hit district of Tharparkar, providing temporary relief from the hot weather to the water-starved residents.
The local Met office recorded the rainfall, which came with strong winds and thunderstorm and lasted for around 30 minutes, at four millimetres.
Over 200 children and half the number of adults have died over the last four months in the district due to illnesses attributed to malnutrition. The desert region, which spreads across 22,000 square kilometres, is dependent on rain for drinking water and cultivation. The people mostly drink the subsoil water, which remains brackish for long parts of the year.
“The rain has just turned the weather pleasant,” said an elderly resident of Morano Junejo villages, located around 10km off Mithi tehsil. “But it won’t do any good to drinking water or the growth of pastures, except add a tinge of greenery on the sand dunes.”
Standing over a well to pull water for his camels, Junejo pointed out a small concrete water reservoir to show that hardly a centimetre of water was collected in the half-hour-long rain. “Like us [people], the desert is also thirsty,” he said. “First it will quench its thirst, only then the surface reservoirs will start to fill.”
According to the locals, Tharparkar requires at least 50mm or more rain for cultivation and for underground water tables to improve. This amount of rainfall is mostly seen during the monsoon season but not every year.
“Most of the areas where we try to find water to dig wells contain reserves of brackish water,” said Jamatud Dawa’s Khalid Saif Laghari, whose organisation has announced that they will dig 100 wells in the villages. The organisation has so far dug 500 wells over the last several years.
Bharumal Ambrani, a local environment and wildlife activist, said the pre-monsoon rain helps in growing grazing areas for the livestock, which is the primary source of livelihood. “If it rains in April or May, the shrubs, plants and pastures grow enough to feed the livestock for a month or so until the monsoon season comes.”
A study conducted by the Pakistan Council for Research on Water Resources in 2010 showed that Tharparkar region receives an average rainfall equal to one trillion litres per year. If properly stored, this amount of water is enough for both humans and livestock to drink for three years, the study stated.
Across the road from Junejo’s village, Kishan Bheel and his family were collecting water in small metal pots. “The quantity is too small but we take this water as a blessing,” the joyful Bheel told The Express Tribune.
Aside from fulfilling the water necessities, the rain turns the suntanned desert green. A lack of inter-district travel facilities restricts desert journeys to savour the weather. But still the rural residents enjoy the varying colours of the sand dunes and withered shrubs and trees. Their counterparts in the semi-urban towns relish the weather in different ways.
“When it rains, Mithi [the district headquarters of Tharparkar] looks like a town of Kashmir,” said Imdad Nohrio, while pointing to the town’s scenic beauty from Gaddi Bhit - a hilly resort that gives a panoramic view of Mithi, which is surrounded by sand hills.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2014.
The heavens opened, although fleetingly, in the famine-hit district of Tharparkar, providing temporary relief from the hot weather to the water-starved residents.
The local Met office recorded the rainfall, which came with strong winds and thunderstorm and lasted for around 30 minutes, at four millimetres.
Over 200 children and half the number of adults have died over the last four months in the district due to illnesses attributed to malnutrition. The desert region, which spreads across 22,000 square kilometres, is dependent on rain for drinking water and cultivation. The people mostly drink the subsoil water, which remains brackish for long parts of the year.
“The rain has just turned the weather pleasant,” said an elderly resident of Morano Junejo villages, located around 10km off Mithi tehsil. “But it won’t do any good to drinking water or the growth of pastures, except add a tinge of greenery on the sand dunes.”
Standing over a well to pull water for his camels, Junejo pointed out a small concrete water reservoir to show that hardly a centimetre of water was collected in the half-hour-long rain. “Like us [people], the desert is also thirsty,” he said. “First it will quench its thirst, only then the surface reservoirs will start to fill.”
According to the locals, Tharparkar requires at least 50mm or more rain for cultivation and for underground water tables to improve. This amount of rainfall is mostly seen during the monsoon season but not every year.
“Most of the areas where we try to find water to dig wells contain reserves of brackish water,” said Jamatud Dawa’s Khalid Saif Laghari, whose organisation has announced that they will dig 100 wells in the villages. The organisation has so far dug 500 wells over the last several years.
Bharumal Ambrani, a local environment and wildlife activist, said the pre-monsoon rain helps in growing grazing areas for the livestock, which is the primary source of livelihood. “If it rains in April or May, the shrubs, plants and pastures grow enough to feed the livestock for a month or so until the monsoon season comes.”
A study conducted by the Pakistan Council for Research on Water Resources in 2010 showed that Tharparkar region receives an average rainfall equal to one trillion litres per year. If properly stored, this amount of water is enough for both humans and livestock to drink for three years, the study stated.
Across the road from Junejo’s village, Kishan Bheel and his family were collecting water in small metal pots. “The quantity is too small but we take this water as a blessing,” the joyful Bheel told The Express Tribune.
Aside from fulfilling the water necessities, the rain turns the suntanned desert green. A lack of inter-district travel facilities restricts desert journeys to savour the weather. But still the rural residents enjoy the varying colours of the sand dunes and withered shrubs and trees. Their counterparts in the semi-urban towns relish the weather in different ways.
“When it rains, Mithi [the district headquarters of Tharparkar] looks like a town of Kashmir,” said Imdad Nohrio, while pointing to the town’s scenic beauty from Gaddi Bhit - a hilly resort that gives a panoramic view of Mithi, which is surrounded by sand hills.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 24th, 2014.