BAHALWALPUR: Scores of residents of the Cholistan desert have started migrating along with their cattle due to what they are calling the worst drought in 50 years.
Demanding that the government declare Cholistan disaster-hit, the people said that 99 per cent of the ponds (tobas) had dried up.
Scores of residents protested on Saturday and Sunday and demanded that the government impose emergency discipline in the region.
The protesters came from the Toba Tharowali, Toba Qasaiwala, Toba Kitanawala, Toba Khokranwali, Toba Khariwala, Toba Bhochraanwali and Toba Akmalwala areas.
They said the 6.6 million acres desert had not received rainfall for a long time, drying up over 1,200 major ponds in the area.
Talking to The Express Tribune, Riaz Baloch, the Al Sadiq Desert Welfare Organisation president, said that two million cattle, including camel, cows and sheep, and over 175,000 people relied on water from these ponds.
Quoting from data obtained from some non government organisations, he said, these ponds had not been cleaned for over a decade. The ponds, have thus, been filled with sand that also played an important role in drying up, he added.
Allah Bachaya, one of the protester said that the government collected Rs2 billion from Cholistan every year, but the residents were still without assured water supply.
Abdul Majeed, another protester, criticised the government for its lack of interest.
He said had the ponds been cleaned regularly, sand wouldn’t have built up. He said layers of sand over years had decreased the capacity of these ponds. He said given the situation, the region would become hell in summer.
The protesters also criticised the government for organising the Cholistan Desert Jeep Rally this week.
They said the rally gave an impression that Cholistan was a place for entertainment, ignoring the fact that its people were devastated. They regretted that the government spent million of rupees on tourism events while people were short of water.
They questioned the rally’s benefits for the residents of the area saying that the revenues generated from such events “were spent on development in other cities”.
Aftab Pirzada, the Cholistan Development Authority managing director, told The Express Tribune that a proposal had been sent to the government in this regard. He said the government had been asked to release funds for cleaning the ponds. He said the government would likely release some funds in the next budget.
Jeep rally starts on Feb 14
“The ninth Cholistan Desert Jeep Rally will start at Derawar Fort from February 14 to 16,” Tourism Minister Rana Mahshood Ahmad Khan said on Sunday.
He said over 100 drivers had been registered. He said the event would be organised by the Tourism Development Corporation of the Punjab.
He was talking to newsmen at the Punjab Tourism Complex.
He said the event was designed to boost tourism in the area. He said the TDCP had introduced a special tour package from February 14 to 16 for tourists from Lahore to Derawar Fort.
He said the package included return tickets in luxury buses, dinners at Noor Mehal in Bahawalpur, visit to the Bahawalpur Museum, Sadiq Garh Palace and a cultural night including a fireworks show at Derawar.
He said the package also included a camel safari, visit to historic mosques and the historic graveyard at Derawar. The minister said the government was working on theme parks at Rohtas, Kalar Kahar, Fort Monroe, Harappa and Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 10th, 2014.