Drying ponds force Cholistanis to opt for ‘seasonal migration’

BAHAWALPUR: The sizzling heat, which has been gripping the Cholistan desert for the previous one month, has caused an acute water shortage for the desert areas residents and their livestock, as around one-third of the water ponds in the area have gone dry. Dawn has learnt that around one-third of the 2,000 open ponds, locally called ‘toba’, which are the main source of drinking water, besides very few water supply lines in some of the desert areas, for the locals and their livestock, have dried up, causing an acute water shortage in Cholistan. According to experts, during the hot months in the desert areas, the high water evaporation rate, caused bythe scorching sunlight and high temperatures, turns these open ponds dry. According to local sources, these 2,000 open water ponds cater to water needs of around 0.3 million humans and their 1.5 million cattle heads. CDA head claims efforts on to supply water to desert area residents However, a number of tobas, including those at Chhoriwala, Kaliwala, Balochanwala, Nooriwala, Tootafan etc still have some quantity of drinking water, accumulating after last month’s rain in the region, they say. They say that the acute water shortage is forcing many of the Cholistan residents, who were dependent on these dried-up ponds, to migrate from their native settlements to green areas, along with their livestock, in search of water and fodder. Due to this massive migration, many abandoned settlements, mostly comprising straw-and-mud houses, look like haunted places. The local sources say that a large number of Cholistani people have already gone to different cities to to sell their sacrificial animals. They say that the potable water being supplied in some of the select areas in the desert through the underground waterlines network laid by the Cholistan Development Authority (CDA), Bahawalpur, is inadequate for the human, as well cattle populations. They say that the res...

Original source: Dawn Pakistan