By Staff Reporter
KARACHI: Authorities in Sindh province have declared the drought-stricken district of Tharparkar a calamity-hit area after officials reported that up to 90 percent of crops across the region had been destroyed.
The decision was taken on Saturday at a meeting chaired by Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah at the Chief Minister’s House in Karachi, where he reviewed conditions in all seven talukas of the desert district and ordered immediate relief measures.
Officials told the meeting that 85 to 90 percent of cultivated crops had been destroyed or rendered unproductive, leaving only 10 to 15 percent standing. The agriculture extension department put crop losses at around 90 percent.
Erratic rainfall was blamed. The seven talukas received between 181 and 273 millimetres of rain over the 2026 monsoon, but September was especially poor, with totals ranging from a single millimetre to 36 millimetres. Crops and natural grasses dried up before reaching maturity.
Shah told officials to ensure uninterrupted supplies of drinking water, fodder and essential commodities to residents. He ordered the immediate repair and restoration of reverse osmosis plants that are no longer working, and said all existing water supply sources must be brought back into use without delay.
He also instructed Chief Secretary Asif Hyder Shah to examine the feasibility of laying a water pipeline from Naukot to Mithi, the district headquarters, and to draw up long-term plans for supplying water to the area.
Livestock, a main source of income for Thar’s population, was a central concern. The chief minister asked for recommendations on how animals hit by the drought could be supported, and stressed the need for emergency fodder arrangements and coordinated relief operations.
He directed continuous monitoring of relief work in affected areas. The provincial government, he said, would not leave the people of Tharparkar on their own and would provide all possible assistance.
Tharparkar, in the Thar desert on the border with India, depends heavily on seasonal rain for farming and grazing, and has been declared calamity-hit in earlier drought years.
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