Pakistan: Drought also hits Cholistan

Hamid Mir in his programme ‘Capital Talk’ said on Monday that drought had travelled from Thar area of Sindh to Cholistan of Punjab province.

While talking on the report of Rana Mohammad Afzal telecast in the talk show, he quoted the drought affected inhabitants of Cholistan as saying that they had been facing numerous problems but the federal and provincial governments had completely ignored them and the people in large number were migrating to the other areas as they had nothing to save themselves and their livestock.

The people of the area said that they were victims of severe drought and all the rainwater reservoirs, commonly known as ‘Tobas’ had dried up and the people had no other option but to leave the area along with their cattle.

“We have nothing to secure our livestock, no water and fodder for our animals, as the government has not taken any measures,” a local person complained. Another inhabitant said that government was taking care of the drought victims of Thar but the people of Cholistan had been entirely neglected, adding, “We have not received any help so far, even from the Punjab government.”

The drought affected people said that a large number of people had left their homes and migrated to other areas along with the livestock and the migration was still going on.It is pertinent to mention here that remnants of the dead cattle could be seen in the report, while the people were migrating to the safe areas.

Saira Afzal Tarar, Minister of State for National Health Services, in the talk show said that the situation in Cholistan was not so bad and it could not be compared with the situation of Thar. “There is situation of drought in Cholistan but not so worse”, she added.

Tahira Abdullah, Human Rights activist, said that the situation of Cholistan was not different from Thar. “One should not do politics with starvation and drought, if someone’s home is burning today, tomorrow would be our turn”, Tahira Abdullah said.