Pakistan: Punjab opposition draws attention to Cholistan drought

The Opposition in Punjab Assembly filed an Adjournment Motion to the house on Monday to draw PML-N government’s attention towards famine-like situation in Cholistan desert of Punjab, SAMAA reported. The Cholistan Desert, also locally known as Rohi, sprawls thirty kilometers from Bahawalpur, and covers an area of 26,300 square kilometres. It adjoins the Thar Desert, extending over to Sindh and into India. Most of the areas in Thar Desert of Sindh are also facing the worst ever drought nowadays. Nearly 200 children have died of malnutrition and negligence over the past three months. Relief activities are underway in the district. Today, Pakistan Tehrik-e-Insaf’s Opposition Leader, Mian Mehmood Rasheed, submitted an Adjournment Motion to the house, stating that drought is looming over Cholistan because the deserved are has not received rain since 2010. Seeking government’s assistance of the affectees, he stated that the locals have started migration from the area along with their domestic animals Reports said that hundreds of animals have died in the area due to disease, with acute water shortage across the Cholistan compelling locals to leave their homes.