A prolonged lockdown imposed by the Pakistani government to check the spread of the novel coronavirus poses a potential threat to the survival of hundreds of thousands of livestock in the country's southeastern Cholistan and Thar deserts, local residents and experts say.
The crippling restrictions have not only stopped the traditional annual migration of the desert-dwellers,Cholistanis or Tharis, to adjoining districts in search of water and fodder for the livestock - their main source of livelihood, accounting for 80 percent of the local economy - but have also barred the transportation of fodder in the region.
From April to June, the three driest months in the region, thousands of Tharis migrate to the districts of Mirpurkhas, Badin and Sanghar,While Cholistanis migrate to RahimyarKhan, Sadiqabad, Bahawalpur, Liaquatpur, Yazman etc where they find water and fodder for their cattle, as well as temporary jobs for themselves as harvesters on farmlands.
The Thar desert, which forms a natural boundary with neighbouring India, covers a region of 200,000 square km (77,000 square miles), has a population of 1.5 million and is ranked by the UN World Food Programme as the most food-insecure region in the country. Its annual rainfall is 250mm (10 inches).
While the Tharis have been able to struggle through previous droughts, each year makes the situation more desperate as more of their traditional sources of water go dry.
He said the administration was not allowing traditional migrants to move to the irrigated districts, while the unavailability of transport has led to an acute shortage of fodder and water."At present, overall conditions are tough, due to the ongoing lockdown. But the situation concerning the livestock is harder," Nashad Samoon, a resident of a remote village in the town of Mithi, told Anadolu news agency.
Many of those who attempted to travel to the nearby districts were forcibly sent back by the security forces, said Samoon. "We have been left with no other choice but the rationing of fodder for our cattle," he said.
"There might be alternative sources of income in other parts of the country. But here for us, there is no alternative source besides livestock," he added.
"If this [source of income] is wiped out, that means everything is destroyed for us."
Khatau Jani, a local journalist, said a lingering drought coupled with untimely rains and a recent onslaught by locusts in the region has led to a severe shortage of water and fodder for the livestock.
"Thar is one of Pakistan's poorest regions, where 95 percent of the population lives in remote villages with only a single source of income," he said.
"No other area has been affected by this lockdown more than Thar."
Breeding of cattle threatened
Many Tharis trudged through the hot sand and roads to get to the adjoining districts days before the lockdown was imposed, but thousands are still waiting for the restrictions to ease, according to Samoon.
"Even those who managed to move are also facing troubles. Some have been forced to return while others are still stranded at different points," he said.
Ali Akbar Rahimoo, head of Aware, a local non-governmental organisation which deals with water and livestock issues, fears a water and fodder crisis could affect the breeding of animals in the region in the months to come.
"Shortage of fodder and water will have a cascading effect on the breeding of cattle, which will eventually hit the region's already weak economy," Rahimoo told Anadolu.
He added that the closure of several cattle markets in Thar and adjoining districts due to the lockdown has compounded the economic hardships of the local communities.
Rahimoo said Thar's cattle account for 15 percent of the country's livestock.
"Wheat harvesting is still continuing [in nearby districts]. They can still find jobs for themselves and fodder for their cattle at the farmlands if the [lockdown] restrictions for them are eased immediately," he said.
"Livestock is everything for Tharis. It's a source of income, nutrition and property. Immediate actions need to be taken to save that." said Rahimoo.
Pakistan has been under lockdown since late last month and will continue until May 9 as the country reported more than 13,000 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 281 deaths so far.Many of us might have heard about Cholistan desert and its surrounding areas but because of lack of knowledge we don’t know anything about this far flung region of Pakistan. Cholistan is a desert and almost is stretched upon an area of 26300 square kilometers. It is also connected to Thar Desert which is extended to Sindh and then into India. Cholistan is the only desert that exists in both Pakistan and India.
The meaning of Cholistan is Land of the Desert because the word “CHOL” has been derived from Turkish language which means desert. The way of life of Cholistani people is somewhat of nomadic or semi-nomadic type, they always move from one place to another and their stay is prolonged in case they found water and pastures in abundance for their animals.
The culture of Cholistan desert is so different and beautiful that it stands out completely. Men wear bright colored turbans and the women wear bright colored clothes with very discreet embroidery which is basically the speciality of this area.The biggest source of income is only cattle breeding and its related businesses. The demand of milk, butter and animal fats is met from this source. Around 1.6 million cattle are found in the area and they can be easily increased to a great level if only the government puts in special efforts to upgrade the productivity of this area. In the winters as animals are less in numbers and the weather becomes harsh, they switch to various artistic crafts such as cloth weaving, pottery and leatherwork. Pottery industry is thriving here due to its rich soil and different products like pitchers, Surahies, glasses and piyalas.
A super quality carpet wool is produced in the area. Beautiful rugs, carpets and other winter items are made out of it. Blankets are also made to meet the demand of harsh winter as the temperature falls below up to freezing point. The wool got from sheep is sold to get the revenue. Different types of textile products are produced in the region e.g Khaddar fabrics and fine quality khaddar bedclothes are made here.
The Seraiki language is dominant there which is a flavor of Lahnda dialect or Lahnda Languages grouping. Many sufi poets and saints belong to this region such as Khawaja Ghulam Farid who wrote a lot of poetry in the Seraiki language and helped the culture of this place to nurture.
Drawar Fort is the major landmark of Cholistan Desert, located 48 kilometres from Dera Nawab Sahib (once headquarters and the seat of the rulers of Bahawalpur state). The area was once well watered by the river Ghaggar now called the Hakra in Pakistan and known in Vedic times as the Sarasvati. All along the 500-km of dried up river are over 400 archaeological sites, which date back to the Indus civilization 4500 years ago and are clustered around Drawar Fort. The desert has an average rainfall of 5 inches a year and there is very little cultivation. The Drawar fort is a major tourist attraction and it attracts a lot of foreigners because of its heritage and its links to on of the oldest civilizations in the history of the world, the Indus Civilization. Before it became a tourist attraction, the Drawar Fort was the residence of the Nawab of Bahawalpur and there are still remains of Nawab’s quarters in the Drawar fort.
One comes across a chain of forts, built at 29 km intervals when traveling in the Cholistan Desrt, which probably served as guard posts for the camel caravan routes. There were three rows of these forts. the first line of forts began from Phulra and ended in Lera, the second from Rukhanpur to Islamgarh, and the third from Bilcaner to Khaploo. They are all in ruins now, and you can see that they were built with double walls of gypsum blocks and mud. Some of them date back to 1000 BC, and were destroyed and rebuilt many times.
Near the Drawar fort, the TDCP Cholistan Jeep Rally is organized every year since 2005. Over 100 trained desert drivers with modified cars compete in this rally and hundreds of thousands of people from all over the world come to see this. This was a great initiative on part of the government of Pakistan and this step has actually introduced this land as part of Pakistan and having a great culture of its own.
Pakistan is extremely blessed when it comes to the geography. Pakistan is one of the very few countries in the world which has mountainous peaks, a huge portion of ocean linked to it, access to warm waters all over the year and deserts in a comparatively small area. With all these blessings, pakistan is still part of the 3rd world and all the 1st world countries despite having so much area, have much less than this. Our unique heritage and specially the culture and lifestyle of the deserts can be a very unique selling proposition for Pakistan and the Pakistani people can earn a great deal of revenue just from promoting tourism in these places.
