Development Boom in Pakistan's Thar Desert

Thar, one of the least developed regions of Pakistan, is seeing unprecedented development activity in energy and infrastructure projects.  New roads, airports and buildings are being built along with coal mines and power plants. There are construction workers and machinery visible everywhere in the desert. Along with renewed hopes for the region and its people, development boom is also raising concerns about the environment and its impact on the residents.

Thar Coal Development. Photo Credit: Amar Guriro 


Thar Development Projects:

The Tharparker District or simply the Thar Desert is located in the southeastern province of Sindh. It is  receiving a lot of attention because the desert sands hide an estimated 175 billion tons of coal underneath.

In December 2015, China agreed to invest $1.2 billion to develop Thar coal and establish a 660 MW coal-fired power plant.

The coal deposits are divided into 12 blocks, each containing approximately 2 billion tons. In the first phase the Sindh provincial government has allocated block II to Pakistan's Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) to excavate 1.57 billion tons of coal and build a 660 megawatt power plant. The plant is expected to provide power to the Pakistani national grid by June 2019. Later expansion to produce 1,320 MW of power is also planned.

Muhammad Makki, a doctoral student at the University of Queensland in Australia, recently visited the region.  Makki saw "signs of a resource boom already animating the dull landscape of the region – roads, airports, site offices, power lines, guest houses and rising real estate price are evident".

Thar Population:

The region has a population of 1.6 million. Most of the residents are cattle herders. Majority of them are Hindus.  The area is home to 7 million cows, goats, sheep and camel. It provides more than half of the milk, meat and leather requirement of the province. Many residents live in poverty. They are vulnerable to recurring droughts.  About a quarter of them live where the coal mines are being developed, according to a report in The Wire.

Hindu Woman Truck Driver in Thar, Pakistan. Source: Reuters

Some of them are now being employed in development projects.  Makki saw an underground coal gasification pilot project near the town of Islamkot where "workers sourced from local communities rested their heads after long-hour shifts".

Hindu Woman Truck Driver in Thar, Pakistan. Source: Reuters 

In the first phase, Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) is relocating 5 villages that are located in block II.  SECMC is paying villagers for their homes and agricultural land.

SECMC’s chief executive officer, Shamsuddin Ahmed Shaikh, says his company "will construct model towns with all basic facilities including schools, healthcare, drinking water and filter plants and also allocate land for livestock grazing,” according to thethirdpole.net He says that the company is paying villagers above market prices for their land – Rs. 185,000 ($ 1,900) per acre.

Impact to Date:

Islamabad-based Pakistani economist Dr. Pervez Tahir recently visited and found that "the impact of the road, augmented by mobile connectivity, is multidimensional" Here's an excerpt of what he wrote in The Express Tribune:

"Walking long distances has given way to motorbikes and overloaded buses have taken the place of kekras, the rickety shuttle truck-bus of the World War II vintage. Children suffering from malnutrition and other ailments are reported directly to the media as well as the hospital in Mithi on mobile phones. The high numbers of the suffering children had always existed; only the media was late in discovering these cases. The media attention did bring politicians and bureaucrats to the region, facilitated of course by the road. The hospital in Mithi is now much better staffed and well-stocked with medicines. It is now a thriving town with a good number of schools and a college. Even an English-medium private school was in evidence. A sub-campus of a university is also coming up. Locals complained about the lack of girls schools, especially at the post-primary level. This is a sign of growing awareness. There was also frustration that the locals are not given the party tickets for the National and Provincial assembly seats. Mobile connectivity and the road have linked the famous craftswomen of Thar with the main markets much more effectively. At a community meeting in Islam Kot, women were quoting prices that broadly corresponded with the prices charged in Karachi’s Zeb un Nisa Street."

Summary:

Thar development boom is part of Pakistan's efforts to solve its energy crisis as part of China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects. It is stimulating a lot of economic activity in Tharparker region that will impact the local population and the environment. Sindh government and the companies working there claim that they are trying to maximize benefits for the region and the country while mitigating any problems associated with it. It's important that they live up to their claims.

Here's a video report by Amar Guriro:

https://vimeo.com/179874726

Pakistan’s coal expansion brings misery to villagers in Thar desert from thethirdpole on Vimeo.

Related Links:

Haq's Musings

Thar Drought

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor

Abundant, Cheap Coal Electricity For Pakistan

Mobile Connectivity in Pakistan

Pakistan Sees Robust Growth in Consumption of Energy, Cement and Steel

Politcal Stability Returns to Pakistan

Auto and Cement Demand Growth in Pakistan

Pakistan's Red Hot Air Travel Market

China-Pakistan Economic Corridor FDI

Mobile Broadband Subscriptions and Smartphone Sales

Pakistan in MSCI Emerging Market Index

Comments

Riaz Haq said…
Why #Pakistan's Stock Market Beats #China's And #India's via @forbes

http://www.forbes.com/sites/panosmourdoukoutas/2016/09/14/why-pakistans-market-beats-chinas-and-indias/#1a3ab86b269f

Pakistan’s equity market has been outperforming China’s and India’s markets by a big margin in recent years. In the last twelve months, Global X MSCI MSCI +% Pakistan ETF was up 20%, beating India’s and China’s comparable ETF’s by almost two to one – see table.

That may come as a big surprise to some. Pakistan has been suffering all sorts of terrorist attacks, which makes it a very unstable country to put your money in. And it has been lagging behind both India and China in key macroeconomic metrics like GDP growth rates and unemployment—see table.

Index/Fund 12-month Performance 5-year Performance
Global X MSCI Pakistan (NYSE:PAK) 20% 400%*
IShares China (NYSE:FXI) 9.80% 16.00%
iShares S&P India 50 (NASDAQ:INDY) 12.77 % 33.0%
iShares MSCI Emerging Markets (NYSE:EEM) 5.38% 1.52%
*In local currency.

Source: Yahoo YHOO +0.98%. Finance and Karachi Exchange 9/5/2016

Pakistan’s, India’s and China’s Key Metrics

Country China India Pakistan
GDP $10866 billion 2074 billion $270 billion
GDP Growth yoy 6.7% 7.1% 4.24%
Unemployment 4.05% 4.9% 5.9%
Inflation Rate 1.3% 5.05% 3.56%
Capital flows -594 HML -$300 million -$1882 million
Government Debt to GDP 43.9% 67.2% 64.8%
What does the collective wisdom of markets see in Pakistan’s markets that others are missing?

A few things. First, terrorist attacks don’t usually affect financial markets, unless they are disruptive to trade, which hasn’t been the case in Pakistan. Second, Pakistan is a frontier rather than an emerging market, and therefore, favored by the numbers game. Third, its market reform efforts have been getting a couple of votes of confidence from overseas like $1 billion in support from the World Bank – and a couple of domestic acquisitions from foreign suitors like the acquisition of Karachi’s K-Karachi by Shanghai Electric Power Co. This has all been music to the ears of foreign investors.

Riaz Haq said…
#Sukkur-#Multan motorway to create 10,000 jobs: #China | SAMAA TV #CPEC #Lahore-#Karachi Motorway

http://www.samaa.tv/economy/2016/09/sukkur-multan/

Chinese Deputy Ambassador, Zhao Lijian said on Wednesday that world largest construction company was implementing Sukkur-Multan section of Karachi-Lahore motorway project creating more than 10,000 jobs for local people of Punjab and Sindh provinces.

As many as 20 camps had been set up for the staff participating in the construction work of US$ 2.9 billion mega project, he said while speaking at a national conference on CPEC: Macro and Micro Economic Dividends for Pakistan and the Region, held here.

Terming CPEC as flagship projects of One Belt One Road initiative by Chinese President, Xi Jinping, he said, his country had so far invested US$ 14 billion in 30 early harvest projects being completed under CPEC out of which 16 were under construction.

He expressed his satisfaction over the pace of work on different energy, transport, infrastructure and road projects, he said, Chinese government encouraged qualified companies to invest in Pakistan and explore business and trade opportunities.

Zhao Lijian said, in year 2013, China was at number 13 on Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) list of Pakistan, adding, last year China had become number one inventer after the commissioning of CPEC initiative.

Giving details of energy projects being completed in year 2017, he said, 70 percent work on Sahiwal Coal Power Project had been completed and its first unit would start producing electricity by end of June next year.

He said, Port Qasim Power Project and Dawood Wind Power project would soon be completed.

The Chinese Deputy Ambassador said, Karot Hydro Power project was being competed from Silk Road Fund announced by the Chinese President. – APP

Riaz Haq said…
#Diwali celebration in #Pakistan's Thar desert with lights and fireworks in #Mithi http://scroll.in/article/820207/fireworks-in-the-desert-a-dusty-town-in-pakistan-reminds-us-why-diwali-is-so-special … via @scroll_in

For the five days of the autumn festival, Mithi celebrates like no-one else in Pakistan. As soon as the evening pooja finishes, the sleepy desert town of over 25,000 turns into a carnival of lights.

It was to witness this transformation that I travelled to Mithi last year with a writer and a business student. The writer was working on an assignment and had visited Thar a few times in the past, while the student had volunteered to assist her in the project. Our outlooks and ambitions were very different, but somehow experiencing Diwali in Mithi was important to all of us.

Mithi, after all, is among the few towns in Pakistan where Muslims are not in majority, a place where both Hindus and Muslims have lived together harmoniously. Its Diwali is a symbol of this amity, an experience that should be on everyone’s bucket list.


We stopped at some crowded fireworks shops, fighting at first for space. But then people realised there were women amongst them. Out of respect, they let the writer and the student select fireworks. It was then I noticed that there were no women in the bazaar. The writer, as if reading my mind, turned and told me that the women must be busy at pooja. We closed the deal and made our way to Krishna Mandir at the other end of the bazaar.

The temple’s entrance was decorated with fairy lights. It seemed to have undergone many renovations and, in places, I could see fragments of old colourful Belgian tiles below newer gaudy ones. I walked in anxiously, fearing that people may not appreciate an outsider filming them. The writer sensed the hesitation and led me to the inner portico, striking the temple bell while crossing it. No-one seemed to care – people were busy lighting diyas, performing pooja, taking selfies and setting up fireworks.

As another wave of people came in, the writer said that perhaps the pooja was over.
Riaz Haq said…
#Chinese to invest in #Pakistan's 5 deserts to make oases: Cholistan, Thal, Thar, Indus, Kharan http://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2016/11/08/business/with-cpec-hopes-high-for-investment-in-5-deserts/ … via @epakistantoday

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Chinese company, the Elion Resources Group (ERG), is eager to turn Cholistan desert, Thal desert, Indus Valley Desert, Thar Desert and Kharan desert into oasis by implementing ecological system, eco-environment infrastructure and mechanism of technological innovation.

Plan vision aims to reclaim land from sand by promoting vegetative cover, establishing forest (Afforestation and reforestation), controlling desertification, developing severe weather-resistant cultivable lands and uplifting the lives of locals through innovating husbandry, pharmacy and tourism.

ERG, being one of the largest desert ecology enterprises in the world, Dr. Javed Iqbal, PhD in environmental Sciences and Engineering says, is capable to change disadvantage of deserts into advantage. “It has done wonders by rehabilitating China’s ecology system, promoting China’s eco-civilization and green economy at the national level and boosting global green civilization, the betterment of eco-environment in desert areas, poverty eradication and green economy development by utilizing cutting-edgy scientific technology,” he says.

During an intensive talk with 8-member Pakistan delegation who recently visited Inner Mongolia China, He Pengfei, executive general manager of branding, Elion Resource Group shows avid interest in changing the fate of Pakistani deserts.

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He cited the example of Kabuqi desert in Inner Mongolia, seventh largest desert in China which was once a barren land, uncultivable area with no water, no electricity and no future.

“Sand storms reigned supreme, survival rate of tree in the arid desert was even under 10 percent. Grasslands and farmlands were facing extinction. Livestock was depleting and living condition had worsened. However, ERG took on all challenges and today it has afforested more than 6000 square kilometer in Kabuqi desert and built up a comprehensive sand economy system worth over 30 billion Chinese Yaun based on six eco-industry sectors ranging from husbandry to desert tourism, pharmacy to photovoltaic power generation,” he explains,

The ecological industry, he claims, in the desert has provided over 5000 employment opportunities for local peasants and herdsmen, while free professional training has also been provided to make them the new-generation ecological construction workers, tourist service staff and skilled workers of intensive breeding and planting.


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Thar Desert spans an area of 175,000 square kilometers. It is the seventh largest desert on the planet and the third largest in Asia.

Agriculturist Dr. Humayun Faisal says that Pakistan governments, in past, launched some projects to increase the prospects of irrigation and cultivation in the Thal desert by unveiling Greater Thal Canal project (phase I and Phase II) costing Rs. 30 billion in 2001 but unfortunately project stands incomplete so far. Under the current fiscal budget, Punjab Provincial Development Working Party again allocated Rs 6261.701 million for Greater Thal Canal Project (GTC) -Phase-II (Chaubara Branch). If Chinese company, the Elion Resources Group (ERG) and Pakistan concerned quarter agree for desert projects, including GTC and others will bring revolutionary changes in the region and uplift the lives of local people who are forced to lead a nomadic and semi-nomadic lives with meager avenue of livelihood, education , health and other civic facilities, he hopes.
Riaz Haq said…
This Mile-Wide Hole Could Revolutionize #Pakistan's #Economy - Bloomberg #Thar #Coal #energy

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2017-03-21/coal-addiction-spreads-as-chinese-workers-dig-in-pakistan-desert

In the dusty scrub of the Thar desert, Pakistan has begun to dig up one of the world’s largest deposits of low-grade, brown, dirty coal to fuel new power stations that could revolutionize the country’s economy.

The project is one of the most expensive among an array of ambitious energy developments that China is helping the country to build as part of a $55 billion economic partnership. A $3.5 billion joint venture between the neighbors will extract coal to generate 1.3 gigawatts of electricity that will be sent across the country on a new $3 billion transmission network.

“When I came it was a mess. There was nothing here,” said Dileep Kumar, one of the first mining engineers at lead contractor Sindh Engro Coal Mining Co., standing atop the mile-wide hole in the earth, busy with yellow trucks and diggers on the floor below. “Now look at it. This wasn’t possible without the Chinese.”

On paper, Pakistan could be one of Asia’s top economies, with almost 200 million people spread over an area twice the size of California, from the ice-bound peaks of the Karakorum to the warm, dry shores of the Arabian Sea. But it remains hobbled by corruption, political turmoil, terrorism and poverty, all underpinned by a crippling shortage of energy.

The country has natural gas reserves, four nuclear-power stations and the world’s largest dam. Some 700 kilometers north of the Thar mine another Chinese company is helping build a solar farm eight times the size of New York’s Central Park. Yet power outages remain a way of life with blackouts of 12 hours or more even in Karachi and Islamabad. By one estimate, the shortage of electricity is wiping 2 percentage points off economic growth every year.

Thirst for energy is taking Pakistan in the opposite direction of Western countries that are trying to reduce coal power, or use cleaner-burning fuel and technologies. Germany, which still relies on coal-fired stations for two fifths of its electricity, has promised to switch half of them off by 2030.

Pakistan by contrast relies on coal for just 0.1 percent of its power, according to the Pakistan Business Council. The Thar projects and others could see that jump to 24 percent by 2020, according to Tahir Abbas, analyst at Karachi-based brokerage Arif Habib Ltd.

Pakistan’s coal reserves would give the nation a cheap domestic alternative to expensive oil and gas imports. The nation spends about $8 billion a year on imported petroleum and is one of the region’s biggest buyers of liquefied natural gas.

In an effort to curb the import bill and meet demand for power, Pakistan plans to dig up some of the world’s biggest known deposits of lignite, a lower-grade brown coal. But first, it must clear 160 meters of sand to get to the coal.

On a flat, arid plain, separated from a hot cerulean sky by a thin line of spindly scrub, yellow-edged containers sit neatly around paved quadrangles. In the centre of each, a lumpy circle of green turf, irrigated by a hosepipe, provides some respite from the dust and heat.

Riaz Haq said…
Rain showers Tharis with food security

https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/218012-Rain-showers-Tharis-with-food-security

The current rain spells have changed the landscape of Thar Desert, filling natural water ponds and recharging underground water in the entire Tharparkar and parts of Umerkot districts.

People expect several wild fruits and vegetables to bloom in the coming weeks, which would improve food security in the Tharparkar district. Mushrooms and other wild leafy vegetables have already started flooding the local markets, creating hope for the people, who were in need of rich nutrient food at their doorsteps.

Muhammad Siddiq, leading Rural Development Association (DRA), said, “These vegetables and fruits will benefit the desert people, mainly children and small babies, who presently need proper diet.”

He said many vegetables and fruits are expected to arrive in the markets within a few days, which would be easily accessible for all the people. Siddiq said round gourd (tinda) would arrive in the market after 20 days, melon family fruits in 30-days while green watermelon, mostly cooked as a vegetable, would be brought to the local bazaars in 45-days.

He works in the fields of water management and indigenous tree plantation, and also motivates the local communities to establish kitchen gardens in the desert villages. Siddiq has knowledge about the traditional practices in the desert, especially regarding pre and post rain harvest.

“Rain is a blessing for the desert people after a long dry spell which depleted plants and trees, and degraded the water sources of the region,” he said.

Thar Desert has experienced the worst situation for two consecutive years in terms of food security, unsafe water sources, malnutrition among children, and frequent reports of deaths of newborn babies in scattered areas. Doctors attributed these deaths of babies to the poor diet of mothers.

“After prolonged dryness, fear of shrinking water sources and drought-like situation, these rains have created hope for families, who can live safely,” Siddiq added.

Information gathered from different areas revealed that for now grasses were at a growing stage on sand dunes and plains. It was only benefitting small animals, goats, and sheep. Herders expect more grasses to grow in the following days, which would benefit all animals.

Local mushroom varieties, known for their delicious flavour, have flooded the local urban markets. However, due to lack of preservation technology and poor storage and processing mechanism, this well-known edible item has a very short shelf life, and large quantities often go to waste.

About the traditional process of fodder stocking for winter, local community elders said it depended on the rains. If the desert received five-seven showers within a few days, it would benefit farmers, who would be able to cultivate their lands to grow all the traditional crops and also grasses for livestock rearing.

Traditionally, people collected fodder after the rainy season ended and kept it in stock for using during winters. Currently, the grass stocks would be enough for the next three months. However, to make the stocks last till winter, the region should receive more heavy rains as per the communities, so they could have access to sufficient food and fodder.

The desert communities mostly depend on rain-fed farming and livestock rearing. Thar has around six million livestock population. They call this timely rain a blessing and believe it would benefit all the people, water sources, lands, and livestock. Umerkot livestock deputy director Dr Ganesh Kumar Khatri in his updates warned herders to be careful, and said it was common for small and weak animals to fall prey to certain viral infections during this season. Apart from viral infections, eating harmful and alien grasses or drinking stagnant water could also cause problems for animals.
Riaz Haq said…
Blessings and bane that come with rain
Zulfiqar Kunbhar September 3, 2017

http://tns.thenews.com.pk/blessings-bane-come-rain/#.WbSExtOGN-U

Sindh’s Thar Desert has witnessed severe drought in the past four years. The long dry spell caused acute shortage — of food for humans, fodder for livestock and water for wildlife. During this worst drought in the recent history, hundreds of infants have died of malnutrition. The famine like situation has killed not just livestock, an important source of livelihood, but also wild species.
But the recent monsoon rains had a magical effect on the desert which has turned green from brown, promising good times ahead not just for humans but wildlife as well.
At the same time poaching and trafficking of baby wild animals including peafowl, deer, partridge and wild rabbit in the region is picking up. Thar Desert is home to around 300 species of mammals, birds and reptiles.
Prolonged drought had impacted the economy, society and environment of Thar Desert. Natural water ponds (locally known as Tarae) dried up and ground water level deepened, affecting all forms of life. There was no cultivation. Green pastures, which are the main source of food for livestock and wildlife, had depleted. Locals would spend most of their time in search of food and water. In the drought years, almost half of the total population of locals migrated along with their cattle to the neighbouring barrage areas in search of food. So did the wildlife species.

Although last year there were some rains in the desert they were not on time, hence not beneficial for locals as they could not cultivate crop due to delayed rains. Also, there was no greenery.
This year monsoon arrived on time. The desert received the first rain in the beginning of July that continued for several days, restoring the beauty of the desert.
Rain has provided the much-awaited relief to the living beings and natural habitat. Thar Desert is recovering from the bad impacts of drought. Wetter Thar means greenery and pastures all around as this part is considered the most fertile desert. There is greenery on vast areas of sand dunes locally called ‘Bhit’. That also means better food supply to flora and fauna of the area.
Much of Thar Desert’s portion lies in Tharparkar district of Sindh, stretching over 22,000 square kilometres. 300 kilometres east of Karachi, along Indian border, it has faced persistent but periodic droughts for the past several decades.
Riaz Haq said…
Aquifer recharge dams in Texas


Water enters the Aquifer easily in the Recharge Zone, but the subsurface drainage is generally inadequate to hold all the water that falls in large rain events. Recharge conduits and sinkholes quickly become filled and the remaining water has to flow over the surface and on past the Recharge Zone. So the idea behind recharge dams is that by stopping water and retaining it behind structures, more can be forced to go into the Aquifer. Some of it could be made available for production from wells while the remainder would help sustain flows at Comal and San Marcos Springs above levels that are critical for maintaining endangered species habitats.

In the 1960s and 70s, there was a rash of dam building for flood control purposes, and many of them had the side effect of also increasing recharge (see article below).

Between 1990 and 1998, six studies were completed that analyzed the potential for enhanced recharge using dams (HDR, 1991-1998). There are two types of recharge dams that have been proposed and considered, known as Type I and Type II dams.

Type I dams would be constructed on the creeks and rivers of the Edwards Plateau, the catchment area for the Aquifer, where they would catch storm runoff and release it slowly toward the Recharge Zone. Several studies have determined that Type I dams would have to be very large and expensive and would inundate large areas during rainy times and leave large mud-crusted areas during dry times, so authorities consider them generally not feasible. For example, there is a site with good potential to recharge large amounts of water, but it would have the unfortunate side effect of periodically inundating Garner State Park.

Type II dams would be constructed on the Recharge Zone itself and would stop water as it runs off the plateau, allowing more time for it to go into the ground. Some of the best sites for Type II dams already have dams on them, such as the Medina Lakeand Diversion Lake system, which are estimated to contribute about 37,000 acre-feet per year to recharge (Slattery and Miller, 2004).

http://www.edwardsaquifer.net/recharge.html
Riaz Haq said…
In #Pakistan's #coal rush, some #women drivers break cultural barriers. #Hindu #Thar #energy #Sindh

http://www.reuters.com/article/us-pakistan-women-drivers/in-pakistans-coal-rush-some-women-drivers-break-cultural-barriers-idUSKCN1C41PL

As Pakistan bets on cheap coal in the Thar desert to resolve its energy crisis, a select group of women is eyeing a road out of poverty by snapping up truck-driving jobs that once only went to men.

Such work is seen as life-changing in this dusty southern region bordering India, where sand dunes cover estimated coal reserves of 175 billion tonnes and yellow dumper trucks swarm like bees around Pakistan’s largest open-pit mine.

The imposing 60-tonne trucks initially daunted Gulaban, 25, a housewife and mother of three from Thar’s Hindu community inside the staunchly conservative and mainly-Muslim nation of 208 million people.

“At the beginning I was a bit nervous but now it’s normal to drive this dumper,” said Gulaban, clad in a pink saree, a traditional cloth worn by Hindu women across South Asia.

Gulaban - who hopes such jobs can help empower other women facing grim employment prospects - is among 30 women being trained to be truck drivers by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), a Pakistani firm digging up low-grade coal under the rolling Thar sand dunes.

Gulaban has stolen the march on her fellow trainees because she was the only woman who knew how to drive a car before training to be a truck driver. She is an inspiration to her fellow students.

“If Gulaban can drive a dump truck then why not we? All we need to do is learn and drive quickly like her,” said Ramu, 29, a mother of six, standing beside the 40-tonne truck.

Until recently, energy experts were uncertain that Pakistan’s abundant but poor-quality coal could be used to fire up power plants.

That view began to change with new technology and Chinese investment as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), a key branch of Beijing’s Belt and Road initiative to connect Asia with Europe and Africa.

Now coal, along with hydro and liquefied natural gas, is at the heart of Pakistan’s energy plans.

SECMC, which has about 125 dump trucks ferrying earth out of the pit mine, estimates it will need 300-400 trucks once they burrow deep enough to reach the coal.


Drivers can earn up to 40,000 rupees ($380) a month.

Women aspiring to these jobs are overcoming cultural barriers in a society where women are restricted to mainly working the fields and cooking and cleaning for the family. Only this week in Saudi Arabia, a close ally of Pakistan, women were granted permission to drive for the first time ever, ending a ban that was supported by conservative clerics but seen by rights activists as an emblem of suppression.

Gulaban’s husband, Harjilal, recalled how people in Thar would taunt him when his “illiterate” wife drove their small car.

Riaz Haq said…
Kiran Sadhwani is the first Thari #Hindu #female engineer at #Thar #Coal Project in #Pakistan. #CPEC #Energy

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1521349/kiran-sadhwani-first-thari-female-engineer-thar-coal-project/


Sadhwani, who belong to the Lohana – a Hindu community – was the first girl in her community to study engineering or even to attend a university. Born into a middle class family in Mithi, she received her primary and intermediate education in her hometown and later went on to study at Mehran University of Engineering Technology.

Apart from her work, Sadhwani loves to volunteer. For the first time in the country’s history, when the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) launched its Female Dump Truck Driver Programme near the town of Islamkot in Thar, Sadhwani visited several villages to motivate women to apply for the job and empower themselves. “Not all women who are working as dumper drivers are poor or in dire need of money. It is just that they want to work and earn a living for themselves and improve the lives of their families,” she explained.

Sadhwani loves to play table tennis, read books and listen to music. In the future, she hopes to continue to work for Thar’s prosperity and development.

Out of 25 successful candidates, Sadhwani is the only female working at the site. “When I came for the final interview my father insisted I would have to commute every day as he wouldn’t allow me to live near the site where many other officers and workers live,” she said.

“I wanted to reside at the site so I could visit the mining site easily and learn in the field. I didn’t want to live in my comfort zone by just confining myself to office work so I persuaded my father to allow me to stay there,” she explained.

Sadhwani’s father, who then visited the site and met the officials at the site, allowed his daughter to live there. Now Sadhwani visits her home in Mithi every fortnight. “I was over the moon as I had got the opportunity and a platform to prove myself,” she said. In Tharparkar women are kept in their comfort zones and Kiran wanted to leave hers.

“Just like most parents, my parents also wanted me to study medical as engineering was too difficult a profession for a girl. It was the first challenge I faced but after continued efforts I succeeded in persuading them,” she explained. “I told them it’s not just medical or teaching professions where women can work and excel. It is actually their passion that leads to success,” Sadhwani said.

It is very important to change peoples’ mind-set, which is not an easy job in Thar, not even for the hundreds of non-governmental organisations working in the region.
Riaz Haq said…
What has changed in Thar? Not much

What is unfolding in Tharparkar has all the signs of a humanitarian catastrophe. But the PPP-led provincial government has underplayed the crisis.

https://www.geo.tv/latest/161459-what-has-changed-in-thar-not-much


On paper, there are in total 390 health facilities in Thar, small and big, of which 288 are up and running – as 46 are under construction and 56 need to hire staff.

But on the ground, those figures are greatly exaggerated. At least 40 percent of these facilities are out of order, estimate residents Geo.tv spoke to.

Even if the building is there, enough doctors, nurses and medical practitioners are not available. The provincial government has yet to hire doctors to fill the 332 vacant posts in the district.

Health problems are further compounded by lack of water and other basic facilities.

Thar does not have a working irrigation system. People here are dependent on rainwater for drinking and other needs. Then, the prolonged season of dry weather, and less than normal rain, ravages the crops and food supply in the desert.

In 2016, in the drought-affected Thar, 479 children died due to malnutrition, according to the health department.

This year, in just the first three months, 82 children have already lost their lives. This data has been collected from the government hospitals. Local health experts insist that death in the far-flung areas of the district go unreported.

The figures of mortality are alarming. What is unfolding in Thar has all the signs of a humanitarian catastrophe. Yet, the provincial government, led by the Pakistan People’s Party, has underplayed the crises.

Officials have stopped providing media with updated figures of the death toll. In the past five months, the information flowing out of the district has been blocked.


Recently, Dr. Sikandar Ali Mandhro, Sindh’s Minister for Health, visited the area. When asked by a local journalist about the number of children who died this year, he was quoted as saying, “Children can die anywhere. Why does the media not report the children dying in other parts of Sindh, such as Badin or Hyderabad, why is it focused on Thar?”

He further asked reporters to compare the mortality rate to world figures, “The number in Thar is not so extraordinary.”

Mol Ram is a resident of the village Hilario in the desert. He is disappointed with the parliamentarians his people elected.

“They [the PPP] made many promises in 2013, but since then, since the polling day, we have barely seen them. Does only our vote matter?”
Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan invests $4.5 billion in Thar desert development in #Sindh

https://www.brecorder.com/2017/12/30/389797/investment-of-4-5-billion-in-thar-is-very-significant-governor-sindh/

The Sindh Governor Muhammad Zubair has said that the investment to the tune of dollars 4.5 billion in Thar is something very significant.

He was expressing his views at an interactive session on energy held at the Governor House here on Friday.

The Governor referred to the Thar coal reserves containing 175 billion tons and said that these would help meet country energy needs for a long time to come.

The coal would not only be used for the generation of energy but would also be for provision of basic needs to the residents of the area.

Zubair said that for the betterment of infrastructure 250- bed hospital as well as schools are also being built.

The government is taking every step so that the people of Thar could benefit from the natural resources of the area.

The Governor assured that the federal government would extend every cooperation for the welfare and betterment of the people of Thar.

He informed that generation of power from Thar coal would commence from the year 2019 and this will contribute towards prosperity in the area.

Zubair said that new avenues of development would also open in Thar.

The Chief Executive Officer of Sindh Engro Coal Mine, Shamsuddin Shaikh, said on the occasion that 76 percent of jobs in Thar have been provided to the local people.

He said that the time period of the project span over 42 months but it would be completed in 36 months.

He said that first phase of the project would be executed in 2019.

The company, he added, would also adopt all the schools in Thar.

The company required 500 drivers and intermediate pass youngsters were provided training and appointed as driver with the company at the monthly salary of Rs. 30,000.
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistan’s pivot to coal to boost energy gets critics fired up
Plan to spend $35bn loan from China on new power stations looks set to continue under Khan

https://www.ft.com/content/5cd07544-7960-11e8-af48-190d103e32a4


Pakistan believes it may have found a way out of its long-term energy supply crisis, thanks largely to more than $35bn worth of loans provided by China under the $60bn China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC).

The country has experienced years of rolling blackouts that have left residents in the dark and stifled the country’s manufacturing industries.

But now it is investing in an energy technology that is fast going out of fashion in other parts of the region — coal.

Under the CPEC, Beijing is planning to spend at least $35bn building new power stations, which will be mainly coal-fired, using resources from coalfields at Thar, about 400km east of Karachi. The plans will mean building 9.5 gigawatts of new coal-fired capacity — a third of the total capacity the country has already built.

This is in stark contrast with India, which recently said it would not approve any more new coal power plants — not least because the unit price of solar power has dropped below that of coal.

The previous government has defended its energy policies. Shehbaz Sharif, head of the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz party, which lost power in last week’s election, told the Financial Times before the vote: “We have built 11,000 megawatts of additional capacity in the space of five years, compared with 18,000 over the previous 66 years.”

And the strategy looks set to continue under the new prime minister Imran Khan, head of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf party. Again speaking before the election, Mr Khan told the FT he backed using Thar coal to boost the country’s electricity supplies. “Thar coal is in a desert, it’s near the coast, and there are new technologies which now make it possible that you don’t damage the environment,” he said.

Defenders of Pakistan’s build-up of coal point out that the fuel currently accounts for a very small fraction of the country’s installed electricity capacity. In India, that figure is around 75 per cent.

They also say that with tariffs higher in Pakistan than in neighbouring countries, encouraging cheap electricity supply is essential to help develop exporting manufacturers. The average electricity tariff for industry is around $0.13 per kilowatt-hour, compared with $0.12 in India and $0.09 in Bangladesh.

Pakistan exported goods worth 8.2 per cent of its gross domestic product last year, according to the World Bank, compared with 15 per cent by Bangladesh and nearly 19 per cent by India.

“Manufacturers in India and Bangladesh get cheaper electricity than those in Pakistan do,” says Ehsan Malik, chief executive of the Pakistan Business Council. “This is particularly problematic for the garment industry, especially since all three countries make clothes at the lower end of the sector, where energy prices account for a higher proportion of costs.”

Others, however, warn that while solar prices are falling, Pakistan is building a series of large power stations that will not only pollute the environment but could also saddle the country with high debts and could even become stranded assets in the long run.

Fiza Farhan, an independent development consultant and a former director of Buksh Energy, a solar power company, says: “I have banged my head against walls for years trying to get the government to launch solar projects on mega scales.

“But it was impossible to get projects into the final stage — every time we would get to the financing stage, the government would revise the tariffs.”
Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan's Mithi, an oasis of #Muslim-#Hindu tolerance - Mutual respect. #Mithi is a mostly Hindu city of 60,000 people, a rarity in a country where some 95 percent of the population is Muslim. http://www.ecoti.in/SRbRmY via @economictimes

Mutual respect
Cows roam freely in the Pakistani city of Mithi, as in neighbouring India. Considered sacred animals among Hindus, they embody the religious tolerance of this community in conservative Muslim Pakistan, where minorities face heavy discrimination.

Here, "Muslims respect the beliefs of Hindus," said Sham Das, a 72-year-old pensioner. "They do not kill cows, or only in remote places, but not in Hindu neighbourhoods."

A rarity
Unlike in the rest of Pakistan, cattle in Mithi live very well. They eat as they please, often from rubbish bins, and fall asleep on the roads.

At times tuk-tuks and motorcycles navigate a weaving path around the animals. At others the traffic waits patiently for them to wake.

Mithi is a mostly Hindu city of 60,000 people, a rarity in a country where some 95 percent of the population is Muslim.
Riaz Haq said…
Bloom in the desert
By Kamal SiddiqiPublished: April 15, 2019

https://tribune.com.pk/story/1950826/6-bloom-in-the-desert/

It seems now there are plans for a permanent bloom in Thar. Last week, PPP Chairperson Bilawal Bhutto Zardari inaugurated the Thar coal power plant. It is a unique project.

The power plant has the capacity to generate 660 megawatts of electricity and consists of two power generation units of 330MW each. The first such unit came online this month. The project is a coal-fired power plant in Tharparkar district, 25 kilometers from the town of Islamkot near the village of Singharo-Bitra.

The project is being developed as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) by Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (a joint venture between the Government of Sindh and Engro Corporation) and China Machinery Engineering Corporation in the Thar Block-II of the Thar Coalfield. For this project to move ahead, the Sindh government provided a sovereign guarantee of $700 million.

It is believed that this project will change the fortunes not only of Thar but of Pakistan as well given how indigenous fuel is being used to generate the much-needed power for the national grid.

The social aspects of this project seem to be also looked after. The villages of Senhri Dars and Thareo Halepoto are being relocated. Developers of the project also have pledged to refill coal pits once coal reserves are exhausted, and have also pledged to “plant hundreds of thousands of indigenous trees to maintain the natural ecosystem of the desert.” Nurseries have already been set up for this purpose.

This isn’t on paper. It has become a reality. At its peak, it is expected that 3,000 unskilled workers — mostly locals — will be given employment. It is very encouraging to see these people working in different positions side by side with others from all over Pakistan. We are also seeing the establishment of a campus of NED University of Engineering and Technology in Thar to help enhance skills of local people.

But to get to this point was a struggle. In his speech at the inauguration of the power plant, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah recalled how time and again the Sindh government and interested parties were told that this project would not succeed. It took sheer grit and determination to push through and make this project succeed finally and change the fortunes of the people of Thar and Pakistan. One wonders how many more of such projects are being denied by the babus in Islamabad for reasons best known to them.

Whether it is the Islamkot Airport or the artificial lake that has been created 26 kilometers away to drain the saline water extracted from the coal mines, the Thar coal site continues to impress not only because of the technology used but also how it has started to change the lives of the people living here.

There is much to see here. The women drivers of dumper trucks who bring the coal to the power plant. The amazing sight of the open cut coal mine. The power plant itself — with its chimney — is believed to be the highest man-made structure in Pakistan today.

Thar coal is not just an achievement of the Sindh government but of Pakistan. That is why it was sad to see that no one was there from the PTI or from the Centre to celebrate the inauguration of the power plant. Old mindsets seem to continue to proliferate in the new Pakistan. We need to think of Pakistan.

Riaz Haq said…
A farmer in Punjab is rejuvenating sand dunes though drip irrigation
Zofeen T. Ebrahim Updated June 01, 2019


https://www.dawn.com/news/1485906

For as long as Hasan Abdullah can remember the 50-acre sandy dune on his 400-acre farmland in Sadiqabad, Pakistan’s Punjab province, was an irritant – nothing grew on it.

His farmland lies beside the vast Cholistan desert in a canal irrigated area east of the Indus River in Rahim Yar Khan district. Abdullah inherited it in 2005, when his father passed away. Until then he had been working in information technology.

In 2015, after much research, Abdullah took a “calculated risk” of cultivating the “barren” dune using the drip irrigation system. The government’s announcement of a 60% subsidy on drip irrigation was “a big incentive,” he said. Agriculture, through wasteful flood irrigation, accounts for over 80% water usage in a country facing severe water shortages.

Today, Abdullah’s dune is a sight to behold: fruit orchards have flourished in the sand. He admitted that without drip irrigation the “dune would never have produced anything.

Water mixed with fertiliser is carried out through pipes with heads known as drippers, explained Abdullah, which release a certain amount of water per minute directly to the roots of each plant across the orchard.

And because watering is precise, there is no evaporation, no run off, and no wastage.

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The power of the drip
Using drip irrigation, farmers can save up to 95% of water and reduce fertiliser use, compared to surface irrigation, according to Malik Mohammad Akram, director general of the On Farm Water Management (OFWM) wing in the Punjab government’s agriculture department. In flood irrigation – the traditional method of agriculture in the region – a farmer uses 412,000 litres per acre, while using drip irrigation the same land can be irrigated with just 232,000 litres of water, he explained.

The water on Abdullah’s dune is pumped from a canal – which is part of the Indus Basin irrigation system – into a reservoir built on the land. “Being at the tail end [of the canal system], we needed to be assured the availability of water at all times and thus we had to construct a reservoir,” said Abdullah. For years now, farmers at the head of the canals have been “stealing” water causing much misery for farmers downstream.

Costly savings
But drip irrigation is expensive. Out of Abdullah’s 40 acres of orchards on drip irrigation, 30 acres are on sand dunes and ten acres are on land adjacent to the dune, locally known as “tibba” – a small sand dune surrounded by agricultural land. On the 30 acre-dune patch, Abdullah grows oranges on 18, feutral (another variety of orange) on another six acres, lemons on five acres and on one acre he has experimented with growing olives, which bore fruit this year.

In took three years of “micromanaging the orchards” before the orange and olive trees began fruiting last year. “We hope to break even this year and next year we should be in profit,” he said. It will take another four years to recoup all his investment, he calculated.

Abdullah was the first farmer to experiment with this new approach. Among many challenges that came his way was to get his farmhands to understand the new way of watering.

Akram has had a similar experience, “It is difficult for a traditional farmer to come to terms with it. Unless he sees the soaked soil with his eyes, he cannot believe the plant has been well watered.”

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“Ours is the only farm in Pakistan that has set up a drip irrigation system over such a huge tract – and in the desert too,” said Asif Riaz Taj, who manages Infiniti Agro and Livestock Farm. Now in their fourth year, the orchards have started fruiting over 70 acres. But it will not be before its sixth year, Taj said, that they will “break even”. The drip irrigation and solar plant was installed at a cost of PKR 25 million (USD 174,000), and the monthly running cost of this farm is almost PKR 4 million (USD 28,000).
Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan Thar resettlement. In first phase, 36 families were given possession of residential units. Each affected family displaced from the Thar #coal block-II mining project was given Rs10,000 grant. Most beneficiaries are #Hindu. #Sindh https://www.dawn.com/news/1453922

The Sindh government on Thursday started the process of resettlement by handing over newly-built pucca houses in a model village to the families displaced by mining activities in Thar coalfield block-II.

In the first phase, 36 families were given possession of residential units in the ‘New Senhri Dars Resettlement’ village where each house was built over 1,100 square yards with three bedrooms, washroom, kitchen, sitting areas for men and women, traditional chounra (a straw-made hut), a guestroom and an animal yard. Each house is solar-powered along with main grid connection.

In the model village, 172 pucca houses were being built which would be completed by March 2019. Besides the pucca houses, the model village would be comprising a triple-storey school for 1,000 students, a market of 10 shops, separate community centres for men and women, two reverse osmosis plants to provide uninterrupted supply of clean drinking water, mosque, temple and Gauchar (pasture) area spread over 850 acres.

Congratulating the new settlers, Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said: “The shifting of the affected families to the new houses has turned the displaced people of Thar coalfield into partners of the government.”


Earlier, each affected family displaced from the Thar coal block-II project was given Rs10,000 grant from one-off Rs950 million grant, which was approved to compensate the Thar coal project victims during the meeting held to review the water and rehabilitation schemes under way in the Tharparkar district.

In the meeting it was decided that the provincial government would pay Rs10,000 to residents who lost their homes. “We have decided to support them (the affected families) financially in addition to providing them a well-designed and well-constructed house in a township with all basic facilities such as kitchen, washrooms, corridor, veranda and courtyard where they have been given a lawn and two neem trees and more than two jobs for each affected family,” the chief minister was quoted as saying.

Mosques, mandirs, hospitals and schools would also be built near the residential areas and the government would ensure that the people of Thar were taken care of, said the chief minister.

Sindh Minister for Energy Imtiaz Ahmed Sheikh briefed the chief minister during the meeting that 60 houses had already been built, while others were under construction.

The project is spread over 9,000 kilometres and comprises 12 blocks.

The chief minister said that block-II’s relief scheme would be replicated in other blocks where residents had been displaced.

The chief minister announced on the occasion that Rs2.5 billion royalty that would be generated from the coal projects would be spent solely on the development of Thar and its residents and vowed to turn the area into “one of the most prosperous cities of the world”.

Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan Agriculture Research Council with #Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company’s (SECMC) Thar Foundation in Tharparkar set to turn barren #Tharparkar #desert #green. It has huge reserves of #groundwater estimated at 80 billion cubic meters. #coal https://tribune.com.pk/story/1905021/1-parc-set-turn-barren-tharparkar-desert-green/

For the barren desert of Tharparkar, Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) appears set to embark on an ambitious project of growing cash crops and fruit orchards. The council in this regard entered into an agreement on Wednesday with the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company’s (SECMC) Thar Foundation in Tharparkar.

Cultivating cash crops and fruit trees, modifying seeds and fodder, reducing salinity and developing multi-directional commercial value chains, that involve livestock, are the objectives. The two partners will also carry out an analysis and undertake pre-emptive remedy against land degradation caused by salinity.


PARC will also station supervisors on-ground who will be available to supervise designated bio-saline projects, which have been initiated by the foundation. The two organisations will also conduct a feasibility study on installing domestic biogas units modelled on the utilisation of animal waste as fuel.

PARC Chairperson Dr Yusuf Zafar said that their supreme objective was to eliminate drought in the region. He said that the council would replicate successful models in Tharparkar which were implemented by the Arid Zone Research Institute in the neighbouring Umerkot district.

Syed Murtaza Azhar Rizvi of Thar Foundation said that the desert was blessed with huge reserves of groundwater, which are estimated at around 80 billion cubic meters. The subsoil water, he added, can be pumped out to make Tharparkar district rich in agriculture.

For the project, the foundation is providing 20 acres of land for the execution of a pilot project. The provision of the required resources including water, seeds and saplings will also be the foundation’s onus.
Riaz Haq said…
#AkiraMiyawaki style forest by @SECMC_Thar
. The #MillionTree project seems to be taking shape with Neem, Kandi, Kekar etc. 80% of the 85,000 plants survived, many already 6 ft tall in just a year!

Tweet by Zofeen Ebrahim


Riaz Haq said…
#Thar #desert blooms in #Pakistan after #Monsoon2019. Farmers are tilling their land, planting seeds, and for first time in years, expecting a good harvest. Transformation of is attracting tourists to marvel at grass-lined roads in #Sindh | The Third Pole https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2019/09/13/the-thar-desert-blooms-in-pakistan/

Located in in the south of Pakistan’s Sindh province, bordering India to the east, the Thar desert is home to many varieties of indigenous trees, herbs, and grasses. It is the latter that provides feed for more than 6 million livestock.

One and a half month ago, heavy winds accompanied by soaring temperature hit the region. People migrated towards the barrage areas more than 200 kilometres away with their cattle. Now all that has changed. In the deep desert dunes have been covered by a greenish coverlet, trees have doubled & tripled their leaves, and the grass is growing with unrestrained enthusiasm.

Mr Khaku, who lives in the village of Dhorio, was weeding out grass from his land. He was thankful for the rain, and said that he had invested PKR 20,000 (USD 128) on his land, and intended to work for the next three months until the harvest in the last week of November. His family – he has seven children – seemed to be as enthusiastic as he was, working from sunrise to sunset. Every family member plays a role in cultivating the desert land.

When drought hits the people and animals face an acute shortage of fodder and cereal crops, as well as water scarcity. These lead to premature births among livestock, and the malnutrition rate increases among children under 5 years of age. Pregnant and lactating women do not get their proper amount of food. People are forced to migrate towards the areas where barrages have been built to find fodder and water for their cattle.

This year may be a year of hope, but nothing is certain, warned Bharumal Amrani, a folklorist and environmental expert. “Nothing can be said finally until the harvest. This time Thar has received enough rains, but there are other climatic challenges that may cause low yield.” Recent attacks by grasshoppers are an issue, and have the potential to cause a huge loss.
Local farmers like Nehal, though, are optimistic. He had been taking on labour work during the lean period to manage household expenses. But, after the rains, his family has returned to the land.

“I invested PKR 30,000 (USD 192) last year, but due to rainfall, we got only fodder for two months and couldn’t manage to return the loan payment. This year we welcomed a good shower, and hope this would give us a way to fulfil household needs until the next rains,” he said.
Despite the amount of rain, there is an issue about their timing. “Due to climate change there has been a in the monsoon, the desert received the first spell of rain almost a month late, and that may badly affect the harvest,” said Aakash Hamirani, a youth activist. Nevertheless the people are happy, blessing their fortune this year, and hoping it marks a change from the last few years of lean rainfall.


Riaz Haq said…
Thar starts producing fruit grown through bio-saline agriculture techniques


https://www.thenews.com.pk/latest/606969-thar-starts-producing-fruit-grown-through-bio-saline-agriculture-techniques

After the successful experiments of growing regular crops with the help of bio-saline agriculture techniques, the water-scarce region of Tharparkar has now produced apple ber.

The spokesman of Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC) informed here Friday that the company and its welfare arm Thar Foundation developed the orchard of apple ber under a pilot project.

According to him, the fruits have started growing ripe within one year of cultivation after Thar Foundation planted apple ber over an area of 10 acres in Thar Coal Block II of Islamkot, Tharparkar.

He told that the experiment was part of the bio-saline agriculture by utilizing underground water of third aquifer pumped out from a depth of approximately 200 meters.

"These Ber trees were provided water of up to 3500 ppm TDS under technical support provided by Pakistan Agriculture Research Council (PARC) where 120 trees were planted per acre," he said.

"Within one year, these plants have started yielding fruits and every tree has yielded average 5 to 7 kilograms of apples," he added.

The 120 trees on an acre could earn around Rs.35,000 to 40,000 in the first harvest, said Umair Aslam Butt, Incharge of the Thar Green Initiative and Manager Health, Safety and Environment at SECMC.

He said the current market price of apple ber was Rs.2,200 per 40 kilogram.

"This demonstrates the tremendous economic potential of bio-saline orchards in Tharparkar," he underscored but explained that in order to yield desired fruits for the initiative the underground saline water bearing 5,500 TDS was mixed with waste water in a dilution water reservoir, leading the accumulated number to 3500 TDS.

"For effective utilization of water, drip Irrigation and water sprinklers were used to conserve water as compared to traditional irrigation techniques," he explained further.

Syed Murtaza Azhar Rizvi, Director Site Operations SECMC, said the project results had motivated the company to expand the bio-saline interventions in Thar as growing Apple Ber on saline water itself was evident that Thar holds growth potential of bio-saline orchards.

Rizvi said considering the water scarcity in the region conventional farming dependency on rainwater could be replaced by available saline water to provide a livelihood for local farmers.

He told that the project demonstrated tremendous economic and nutritional potential of bio-saline orchards across the Tharparkar region, eventually benefiting communities nutritionally and economically.

He advised the Sindh Government Sindh to come forward by introducing cooperative farming and offering subsidized solarized agriculture equipment and machinery along with soft loans to the local farmers.
Riaz Haq said…
Water Supply Line For Villages Of Achhro Thar Desert Inaugurated

https://www.urdupoint.com/en/pakistan/water-supply-line-for-villages-of-achhro-thar-848223.html

The second phase of water supply project for 'Achchro Thar' has been inaugurated on Wednesday that would provide clean drinking water to 16 villages of the scarcely inhabited desert area of Sanghar and Umerkot districts

The 28 kilometer long water supply line would supply clean drinking water to more than 6000 population of desert area on daily basis.More than 14 water reservoirs- each having storage capacity of 12 thousand gallons- have been built in different villages under the USAID funded project being executed by Sindh Public Health Engineering department.

Each plant is also equipped with solar power system to ensure uninterrupted supply.
Riaz Haq said…
Spotlight: CPEC mine project proves to be oasis in desert for underprivileged people in Pakistan's Thar region

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/10/c_137965626.htm

Pakistan's Thar Coal Mining Block II project under the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) has helped improve rural people's livelihood in the Thar district of the country's southern Sindh province by offering business opportunities, jobs as well as healthcare and education.

The project was launched in April 2016 in Thar district with an aim to tackle energy deficiency by generating electricity through coal.

A joint venture was formed under the project between China Machinery Engineering Corporation, the Sindh government and Pakistani private companies. Recently, a pit-mouth coal-fired power plant in the project was tested and energized both of its units of 330MW.

Initial estimates of the Thar coalfield block II revealed that the reserve has approximately 2.4 billion tons of coal resources.

Echoing a famous saying among local people that "Thar will change Pakistan," many local economists believe that CPEC will be the game changer for the Pakistani economy.

It is believed that the coal mine project would not only alleviate the energy hunger of Pakistan, but also bring prosperity to the country, particularly in Thar region.

Thar is one of the hottest areas in the country where mercury rises over 50 Celsius degrees in summer. The occupation of majority of the population are animal husbandry and agriculture, but due to absence of rain in the subtropical region, both professions become very challenging for locals.

Safoora Bibi cooks over 20 kg of food with her two assistants everyday, and people from the project transport the food to local workers at the project site. Bibi is happy that she earns a good sum of money by staying at home and doing the job she loves.

Bibi has a daughter who is studying English. By working as a caterer for the project, Bibi is hopeful that she will be able to send her daughter to a good university in the provincial capital of Karachi and get a good job in the future.

Raj Kumar, assistant manager of Small and Medium Enterprise with the project owner Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), told Xinhua that they provided training to Bibi and her assistants from a professional chef, and signed a contract of 3 million rupees (about 21,000 U.S. dollars) with Bibi, and they are planning to further expand Bibi's business as she is a diligent worker.

Meanwhile, the development of the project has brought tremendous improvement in the education sector of the region. Since the launch of the coal mine project, 12 schools including three with a capacity of 900 students each and nine with a capacity of 180 students each have been built in the remote village of Thar, where the literacy level was traditionally low.

Ashok Bakhtani, assistant manager of Corporate Social Responsibility (SCR) under the Thar coal mine project, said they are providing free education to some 2,300 children from nearby villages, and all the teachers are local women.

"The boys and girls are now the 'radiance' of the schools built under CPEC. Now they come to school everyday to learn languages, science, arts, math, history and social mannerism," said Bakhtani.

Sankar, a worker in one of the schools, said he used to work as a laborer in the village and sometimes his family had to sleep hungry because he could not make enough money to feed them. Now both he and his wife work in the school and have good income every month.

"I couldn't afford to send my son to school earlier, but now he is studying free of cost here. Now we can eat to our full and buy clothes whenever we want," he said.

Riaz Haq said…
Spotlight: CPEC mine project proves to be oasis in desert for underprivileged people in Pakistan's Thar region (contd)

http://www.xinhuanet.com/english/2019-04/10/c_137965626.htm

Under the project, a medical center was also launched where locals are provided with free medical facilities. A pediatric, a gynecologist and a general physician provide free medical check ups to locals. Tests and laboratory examinations are also provided in the hospital free of charge.

Fehmida, the gynecologist in the hospital told Xinhua that people's perspective about healthcare has changed a lot since the hospital was built.

"Initially people resorted to self-medication for every disease. Taking pregnant women to hospital was not a general practice of the local community as they would rely more on village mid-wives, due to which the number of mother and neonatal mortality was high, but after we started medical center here, number of pregnant women visiting the hospital increased greatly."

Clean drinking water is also a major issue for locals, as there used to be only a few wells in the area. Women used to walk a long distance every day to fetch drinking water in temperature as high as 50 Celsius degrees, and the water was usually non-drinkable, causing many water-borne diseases in local people. But now clean drinking water is provided to local people near their homes under the Thar coal mine project.

Talking to Xinhua, Naseer Memon, general manager of Corporate Social Responsibility in the SECMC, said they are also working to protect local handicrafts by buying products directly from local people on market rates, thus improving the financial condition of local craftsmen.

He said they also trained a number of unskilled laborers from Thar to give them opportunity to reap the harvest of CPEC by getting employment.

The general manager said many of the laborers were later hired by other companies because of their expertise learnt from the project, and they filled the slot by training more people.
Riaz Haq said…
According to the details shared by Pakistan LNG, PLL was the lowest bidder, which quoted a remarkable rate of *5.7395%* of Brent (approx. USD 2.2/mmbtu) for the cargo. Prices quoted by the other three bidders are Gunvor 7.8421%, PetroChina 8.3500%, Trafigura 10.3811%.

https://propakistani.pk/2020/07/28/pakistan-is-buying-its-cheapest-lng-cargo-ever-at-a-record-low-price/


PLL received an offer for an Aug 27-28 delivery cargo at about $2.20/mmbtu. It is worth mentioning that Pakistan has been out of the spot market in 2020, and this is their first tender since November 2019.

A.A.H Soomro, managing director at Khadim Ali Shah Bukhari Securities told ProPakistani,

This is a game-changer! It’s time for Pakistan to relook at long term LNG contracts and move towards Spot purchase. Let’s assess the possibility of cancellation of the contracts. Bargain in your favor. This solves half of Pakistan’s problems if we speedify the LNG terminals. The economy would grow in leaps and bounds if we reduce energy costs now.

This is lower than the Asian LNG spot price LNG-AS for August which on Friday was estimated to be about $2.35 per mmBtu. The prices are expressed in the document as a “slope” of crude oil prices, a percentage of the Brent crude price, and are typically a pointer for the opaque spot LNG market.

Pakistan LNG has a separate tender to buy two LNG cargoes for delivery in September which closes on August 4.

Fitch Solutions stated that Asian spot LNG prices continue to hover at historical lows as COVID-19 continues to drag economic activity and demand.

The spot prices in Asia have remained depressed accordingly, falling by more than 50% since the start of the year to hit USD 2.5/mmBTU at the time of writing in July, from USD 4.0/mmBTU in January. YTD prices are shown to have averaged USD 2.7/mmBTU, halved from USD 5.4/ mmBTU in 2019 and less than a third of the USD 9.7/mmBTU averaged in 2018.

LNG imports into key importing markets in Asia – apart from China – have registered large y-o-y declines across the board as gas consumption across industry and commercial sectors slowed to a crawl as strict COVID-19 containment measures were observed.

The outlook for LNG prices was hardly rosy coming into the year even before the onset of the coronavirus pandemic, amid a negative backdrop of slowing coal-to-gas switching in China and a milder winter, although it looks to have deteriorated further as energy demand sinks across the region.
Riaz Haq said…
Monsoon in #Pakistan: Bane for farmers, boon for animal herders. Heavy rain has hit standing crops & #vegetables plants nurseries hard, but animal herders in #Thar desert are happy as more rains mean more fodder for #livestock and better livelihood. #Sindh https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/706310-monster-rains-a-bane-for-plain-croppers-a-boon-for-desert-herders

According to reports pouring in from different parts of the province, including Sanghar, Matiari, Tando Allahyar, Tando Muhammad Khan, Hyderabad, Jamshoro, Dadu, Thatta, Sujawal, Badin, Mirpurkhas, Umarkot, and Tharparkar districts, heavy rains have flooded the fields of cotton crop at the time of its harvesting, as farmers were busy picking in many areas.

In others parts nurseries of onion, tomato, and late variety of chilli, ready to be planted, have also come under rainwater, causing uncertainty among growers.

The farmers had already prepared their pieces of land for plantation of abovementioned veggies, but the record showers disrupted their plans.

Mir Zafarullah Talpur, a grower in Tando Jan Muhammad, sharing his observations, said the farmers in Kunri, Umerkot, Dighri, Naukot, Samaro and Jhudho had lost their fine quality chilli due to heavy rains. “An up to 12-hour long continuous rainfall inundated the crops over a wide area,” he observed.

Gulab Shah, a grower from Keti Bunder coastal area, said the rain had been pouring since the last 24 hours, causing damages to standing crops of Paan (Betel leaves), tomato, banana, cucumber, and chilli. “Artificial drains made for saline water are not taking flood water. In some places these drains are seen overflowing, further threatening crops,” he said.

The chilli in coastal areas has its different season compared to main chilli zones like Kunri.

Haroon Memon, a chilli grower of Kunri, Umerkot district said the farmers were preparing to start harvesting of early sown chilli expected to start on September 15, 2020.

The crop standing on hundreds of acres in the area has come under rainwater.

“There is no exact data of crop damages, because neither concerned government departments nor growers’ bodies have the capacity to assess the situation,” Memon said adding however the losses were likely to be huge in chilli and cotton crops in these areas, where entire farmland was under water.

Noor Hussain Khoso, another farmer from Badin, said cotton and chilli were sensitive crops, which have come under water and might be lost within a few days in case water did not recede.

“Mostly there is no drainage system in any agriculture area to save the crops. Some influential landlords have arranged dewatering machines to save their crops, but many other farmers, who are unable to drain the water out of fields, fear big losses,” Khoso said.

Some farmers said it was too late to rent dewatering machines because the new rain spell was due within a few days, as reported by National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA).

Manzoor Kalhoro, who manages four nurseries of valuable fruit, ornamental plants and forest species in Deh Narejani, Hyderabad city suburbs, said the devastation rained on them.

“It is not only Hyderabad, there are reports from Mirpurkhas where nurseries have come under water,” he added.

A large number of people are in the plant nursery business. They are using pumping machines to drain rainwater to save the saplings, but at the same time are bracing for losses. There are several sensitive plants which cannot survive in stagnant water for many days.

Muhammad Siddiq of Mithi, Tharparkar called the rain a boon for the desert areas, where farmers and herder families seem happy, believing rain might benefit the early sown crops and green pastures.

There are reports that breaches in irrigation tributaries have also caused flooding of crops.
Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan to lay 105 Km new #railway track to transport Thar #coal to be ready by June 2022 with the initial capacity of carrying 3.80 million tons/year (MTPA) of coal from Thar coal mine. By 2025 it will transport 10.80 million tons/year. #Sindh #energy https://nation.com.pk/24-Aug-2020/govt-decides-to-lay-new-railway-track-for-supply-of-thar-coal

The project will require around 1600 Acres of land and it will be operational by June 2022 with the initial capacity of carrying 3.80 MTPA coal from Thar coal mine. By 2025 it will have the capacity to transport 10.80 MTPA coal, the source said. The cost of laying of 105-kilometer long new railway line from Thar coal mines to Chhor station on Hyderabad-Mirpurekhas, Khokhropar section of Pakistan railway is around Rs24.50 billion, cost of rolling stock is Rs65 billion, O&M cost is Rs4 billion and cost of improvement of the existing 149 KM track from Hyderabad to new Chhor station is Rs3.8 billion. The source said that rail transportation of coal from Thar mines is the most feasible and three times cheaper option as compared to road transportation. The project will help saving foreign exchange reserves of $432 million per annum which can increase up to $1.2 billion per annum at ultimate mine capacity. Moreover the transportation by rail will protect the road infrastructure from damage and will save the environment.
Riaz Haq said…
#Pakistan will produce #gas and #diesel from Thar #coal. Engro, Fauji and Fatima #Fertilizer to initiate the feasibility study collectively on turning the Thar coal into synthetic gas and then equal to natural gas to produce fertilizer. #energy #food https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/732026-pakistan-will-produce-gas-and-diesel-from-thar-coal

"We want to initiate two projects; one on Coal to Gas (CTG) and the other one on Coal to Liquid (CTL) and to this effect we have asked Engro Fertilizer, Fauji Fertilizer and Fatima Fertilizer to initiate the feasibility study collectively on turning the Thar coal into synthetic gas and then equal to natural gas. The three players want to use the synthetic gas as fuel for production of fertilizer."

He said that the local gas reserves were fast depleting and the cost of RLNG, the imported product, was too high that hovers around $9-10 per MMBTU on an average. If the said projects are materialized, then it will be no less than a game changer.

“Earlier, the three said companies had separately conducted feasibility studies on turning Thar coal into synthetic gas, but they found that it would cost them at a higher side. Now we have again asked them to collectively initiate the feasibility study on the proposed project and we are hopeful this time the result will be positive.” The government will also initiate the project to turn the Thar coal into diesel (liquid).

Qasim said that 75 percent fertilizer was produced in China through synthetic gas as fuel produced from the coal reserves. He also mentioned that according to the standard conversion rates, the Thar Lignite Coal resources are equivalent to around 50 billion tons of oil, which is more than the combined oil resources of Saudi Arabia and Iran. In terms of gas reserves, these are around 68 times the present resources of natural gas in Pakistan.

It is pertinent to mention that Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group, a subsidiary of China’s biggest coal producer, the Shenhua Group, has already successfully installed the project to convert coal into oil in the northwestern Chinese region of Ningxia, the biggest plant of its kind in the world.

The coal-to-liquid (CTL) project, which has an annual production capacity of 4 million tons of oil, was built by the Shenhua Ningxia Coal Industry Group, a subsidiary of China’s biggest coal producer, the Shenhua Group.

Pakistan’s monthly diesel requirement stands at an average 600,000 tonnes according to which annual need stands at 7.2 million tons and the project to make Thar coal liquid (diesel) will also help reduce the import bill of diesel.

The SAPM on mineral development said that the government has planned not to increase the power generation of more than 10,000 MW through Thar coal because of the global warming phenomena, but will increase its focus on power generation through renewable resources as well as hydro generation. He disclosed the Lucky Power Plant of 660MW is being installed at Port Qasim, which will utilize the Thar coal and to this effect a railway line will be laid down from Thar coalfield to New Chhore from where it will be connected to the railway station line that will take Thar coal to Port Qasim. He also disclosed that the railway line of 105 kilometers will be laid down by the private sector on BOT (build, operate and transfer) basis. Similarly the second power plant of 660MW based on Thar coal is being installed at Jamshoro.
Riaz Haq said…
Sindh CM Murad inaugurates Kalidas Dam in Nagarparkar

https://profit.pakistantoday.com.pk/2020/10/28/cm-murad-inaugurates-kalidas-dam-in-nagarparkar/

Addressing the inauguration ceremony, Murad Ali Shah said, “The dam has a storage capacity up to 1,012.3 acre feet while its height is 13 feet. It was constructed at the catchment area of Karoonjhar Mountains that are feasible for small dams. The dam has been constructed at a cost of Rs333 million.”

Shah said that the provincial government has completed the construction of 23 small dams, while the plan for building more 26 dams has also been finalised.

“After the construction these dams, approximately 80,000 acres of land will be made fertile.”

The chief minister said that the people of Nagarparkar and its suburban villages will get clean drinking water after the construction of Kalidas Dam.

“The mountainous region of Karoonjhar is 400 square kilometres wide and it receives an average of 13-inch rain during the monsoon season which provides a total of 111,000 acre feet of water. Kalidas Dam will reduce the water scarcity in the Nagarparkar area,” he added.
Riaz Haq said…
Sindh has become the only province to possess as many as 50 operational small dams that aim to meet the water needs of far-flung areas. As many as 31 new dams are under construction while some eight area are under the tendering process, it is learnt.

https://www.pakistantoday.com.pk/2018/09/12/sindh-becomes-only-province-to-have-50-functional-small-dams/


According to the Small Dams Organization chief engineer, the Sindh government had launched a number of small dams, with a total cost of Rs 12,211 million, to contain water crisis in the districts. Various potential sites were identified for small water reservoirs, particularly along the Kirthar mountain on the western side of the province, he added.

“There are strong opportunities to store rainwater in natural catchments of the Kirthar hills which can be used for cultivation, livestock and human consumption on sustainable basis,” he said, adding that the Kirthar mountain range, shared by Balochistan and Sindh, extends southward for about 300km from the Mula River in east-central Balochistan to the Cape Muari, west of Karachi on the Arabian Sea.

The chief engineer said the areas identified for small dams include upper Kohistan, lower Kohistan, central Kohistan, Nagarparkar and Khairpur.

Advisor to Chief Minister on Information and Archives, Anti-Corruption and Law Barrister Murtaza Wahab told Pakistan Today that total of 50 small dams have so far been completed out of which 28 dams are completed under the province’s Annual Development Plan (ADP) while 22 dams are under the federally-funded Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP).

Barrister Wahab said that the number of total proposed dams stands at 122 and the provincial government is committed to accomplish all the dams at the earliest so as to end the prevalent water crisis in the province. Among these, he added, some 12 dams are located in Nagarparkar–Mithi, while 14 dams in Kohistan-I Dadu and 24 dams in Kohistan-II Jamshoro range.

Under the ADP schemes, the dams which have been completed include Ranpur bund, Mulji, Bhodesar Tank, Khararo Bund, Tobirio Tank, Lakhy-Jo-Wandio, Salari, Makhi, Rani Kot, Bandhani-I, Taki, Maliriri, Mohan, Ashoro Kuch, Suku, Koteri, Thado-II, Langheji, Nai-Mango, Kalu-1, Jharando, Sari, Malir Memon Goth Weir, Kataro, Meer Chakar, Mole Nadi, German Dhoro and Ranpathani. Whereas small dams under PSDP include Naryasar, Ghartiari, Gordhro Bhatiani, Jhinjsar, Lakar Khadio, Khuwara in Nagarparkar-Mithi, Shori, Kukrani, Bandhani-II, Khurbi, Ding Dhoro, Buri in Kohistan-I Dadu and Mullan, Bazkhando, Gaddap, Khand Dhoro, Ullar-Rahuja, Upper Mole, German Dhoro, Ranpathani, Liyari and Watan Wari.

Moreover, the advisor said that 12 small dams that are underway under PSDP included Surachand Bund, Chanida Dam, Rinmalsar, Adhigham in Nagarparkar-Mithi, Hassan Jo Kun, Malir Bukhshan, Sukhan in Kohistan-II Jamshoro and LarhaNai, AikrsoNai, UkhariNai, KiniriNai and WariwaroNai.
Riaz Haq said…
STBE top positions go to Thari students


https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/741097-stbe-top-positions-go-to-thari-students



SUKKUR: Ten STBE top positions have gone to Thari students, who made history in the annual technical board examination in Sindh. The Thari students of Thar Associate Engineers Program (TAEP), supported by Engro Powergen Thar Limited, have clutched all the 10 top positions and graduated from Technical Training School, Daharki.


The youth from one of the most deprived districts of Pakistan, Tharparkar, improved their record consecutively in the third and final year by marking an unparalleled achievement in the Sindh Board of Technical Education (SBTE). The results were declared recently.

Last year, TAEP fellows grabbed nine out of the top 10 positions, while in the first year they secured seven out of top 10 positions, including the top seven positions. The TAEP is fully sponsored by Engro Powergen Thar Limited (EPTL), where a batch of 30 students was studying at a three-year technical diploma-holding program at Technical Training Centre (TTC), Daharki. According to the SBTE results, the first position was secured by Suhel Kumar from Naukot with 83.66pc marks, second by Laleet Kumar of Mithi with 82.56pc marks, third by Teerath Shivani of Mithi with 82.06pc marks, fourth by Uttam Harji Mal from Diplo with 81.24pc marks, fifth by Naresh Nathu Ram from Islamkot with 80.90pc marks, sixth by Shankar Lal Paru Mal of Mithi with 80.85pc marks, seventh by Dhanesh Kumar Bharo Mal of Mithi and Tarachand Debo of Chachro with 80.42pc marks, eighth by Partab Singh Kessar with 80.34pc marks, ninth by Ayaz Amir with 80.17pc marks and 10th by Roshan Kumar Guloo by securing 79.04pc marks. In continuous efforts for a prosperous Thar and to create a skilled workforce, the Thar Foundation is facilitating a three-year Diploma of Associate Engineering (DAE) program for eligible Thari candidates on 100pc scholarship by EPTL. The objective of this program was to prepare candidates for technical employment opportunities at Thar Coal and future projects.

Congratulating the entire batch of TAEP, Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of the Engro Energy Limited (EEL) Ahsan Zafar Syed said that hardworking Thari students continually improved over the period of three academic years and made history by securing all the 10 positions. He said Thari fellows’ relentless hard work has once again proved that if resources are invested in meritorious and deserving students, they shall produce incredible results. The EPTL CEO, Syed Manzoor Zaidi, said it is a milestone achieved by Thari students proving that the land of Thar has great potential for hard-working youth. “We will continue to support talented youth of Tharparkar who want to realize better socio-economic opportunities by exploring avenues of higher learning,” said Zaidi. The Thar Foundation CEO, Syed Abul Fazal Rizvi, said the results and the pride they have brought to their families and people of Tharparkar was without any doubt a gratifying achievement. The students were provided guidance throughout and an opportunity to fulfill their dreams. “Meritorious selection was the hallmark of the TAEP program, through which selected students came from families with poor segment of socioeconomic status,” he added.
Riaz Haq said…
Tending orchards in Thar desert — without flowing water
A farmer is using clay pitchers to irrigate his orchard and crops, using 70 per cent less water than conventional methods.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1571967



Most of the inhabitants of the Thar desert can grow crops only after a downpour has transformed the arid land into lush greenery. But Allahrakhio Khoso, a 60-year-old farmer, does not need to wait for rain.

In the city of Nagarparkar, in the shadow of the Karoonjhar mountains, Khoso has made an orchard in the desert a reality by using matkas or pitchers — an everyday object more commonly found in the home than in the field.

After eight years, Khoso has 400 berry trees, 70 lemon trees, three mango trees and four pomegranate trees. He grows vegetables such as okra, bitter melon, onions, chilies and tinda (a type of squash), as well as watermelon, on his land in the district of Tharparkar.

Khoso can grow berries, lemons, mangoes, pomegranates, watermelon and vegetables. — Photo by Zulfiqar Khoso
In pitcher irrigation, a large clay pot with a wide bottom and narrow top is buried in the ground and filled with water. The water is slowly released into the surrounding soil and absorbed by the roots of nearby plants, minimising the amount of precious liquid lost to evaporation.

In pitcher irrigation, a large clay pot is buried in the ground near a plant and filled with water. — Photo by Zulfiqar Khoso
Water in the desert
Rich in coal but poor in water, Thar is the largest desert zone in the province of Sindh. Its residents depend on rainfall; most people fetch their daily water from wells and store rainwater in water tanks. In summer, many wells run dry and groundwater becomes brackish.

To this day, some wells are dug without modern machinery. Recently four workers dieddigging a well when the walls fell in on them.

Water is so important a commodity that it even features in marriage negotiations; before a proposal is accepted, the parents of a bride will ask the groom’s family how close the nearest well is. In greetings, people also ask about sweet water wells.

Nevertheless, living in the desert does not mean thirst and poverty are inevitable.

How does pitcher irrigation work?
"Many years back, one of my friends came to visit our village and he discussed pitcher irrigation," said Khoso. "I got the idea and started working on it. In the beginning, it was quite hard but now it looks very simple. I thought that if I could make my farm green without rainwater, then I should go for it."

Khoso has made an orchard in the desert a reality. — Photo by Zulfiqar Khoso
To install a new pitcher, Khoso first makes a small hole in the bottom of a pitcher. He puts a rope through the hole, then buries the pitcher, packing mud and sand tightly around it. This leaves only the mouth of the pitcher exposed, which Khoso fills with water. The water seeps through the porous clay and soaks through the rope into the sand, where it is absorbed by the roots of the crops he has planted close by. As well as natural fertilisers, Khoso uses mud from Virawah, a city near Nagarparkar where there is an ancient lake.

Each pitcher is two to three feet wide and holds 10 litres of water, which will irrigate the soil for 15 to 20 days. New pitchers are better for irrigation because they are more porous and, once in place, will last three years. Khoso fetches water roughly every 10 days — there is a well on his farm, and another nearby.

For trees, Khoso uses one pitcher per plant; sometimes two pitchers for mango trees, planting trees 25 feet (7.6 metres) apart. The amount of water needed depends on the crop, with trees requiring more pitchers. Khoso now has 400 pitchers irrigating his orchard.

K
Riaz Haq said…
Clay Pot Irrigation - a simple adaptation of an ancient technique
Maddy Harland
Friday, 24th May 2013
Want to conserve water but still want to make sure you aren't under-watering your garden? Want to establish a simple greenhouse irrigation system? Clay pot irrigation can save 50-70% of water without depriving your plants.

https://www.permaculture.co.uk/readers-solutions/clay-pot-irrigation-simple-adaptation-ancient-technique


This is an adaptation of an ancient method of irrigation that is thought to have originated in Africa 4,000 years ago. It uses the porous nature of clay pots to allow osmotic pressure to suck the water into the soil where it is needed. People use beautiful fired pots called Olla with a narrow neck buried in the soil.



Unless you can make them yourself, this may prove an expensive solution so here's an inexpensive and simple alternative.

Get hold of an ordinary 25 cm (10 inch) terracotta pot. Plug the hole with a wine cork. Bury it almost up to its neck in the soil but not too deep so that soil falls into the pot. Fill it with water. Add a terracotta lid.

Plant seedlings or sow seeds 18 inches around the base of the pot. Water will slowly seep out through the clay wall of the pot, directly irrigating the soil around the pot. As the roots grow they will wrap themselves around the pot. The plants takes up almost all the water, and because the water source is now in the ground, evaporation is almost nil.

Keep the pot filled up and you will provide a steady source of irrigation when your plants need it.

I am trying this in my greenhouse between tomato, chilli, basil, thyme, parsley and tarragon plants this summer and see how often I need to replenish the pots and how much I can reduce watering as well.

Riaz Haq said…
Pakistan's warm waters have long been a refuge for millions of birds that migrate from Siberia to avoid the stinging winter every year. However, the numbers of migratory birds have fallen drastically in recent years due to massive hunting by hunters both local and foreign.

https://www.dailysabah.com/environment/2019/02/11/pakistan-migratory-birds-find-new-destination

But the poor birds have found a new wetland – safe from the threat of hunting – at least for now. Gorano Dam has a man-made reservoir in the remote Thar Desert, filled with saline water pumped out due to a massive coal mining exercise in the region and for power generation.

Located in the Gorano area of the Tharparkar district – some 347 kilometers from Karachi – and sprawling over 1,500 acres, the site is attracting a large number of birds that feed on fish, said a report by the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) after a recent ecological survey.

Some species, the report said, have even started nesting on the partly submerged tree tops.

"Due to climate change, the health of Pakistan's wetlands has deteriorated in recent years. In these circumstances, the popping up of a new water reservoir is a welcoming sign," Mahmood Akhtar Cheema, the country representative of the IUCN, told Anadolu Agency (AA).

According to the IUCN's ecological survey, he said, Gorano Dam was relatively safe for migratory birds due to its low level of salinity compared to the country's other wetlands. He said, however, the ecological survey had still suggested further steps to provide a better environment for the migratory birds.

Every year over a million birds cover a grueling distance of 4,500 kilometers to migrate from Siberia in search of moderate waters to spend the harsh winters, according to conservation groups, but Cheema said "a scientific study is required to estimate the exact numbers."

Their ultimate destination is India, but they make stopovers at various lakes and water reservoirs in Pakistan, mainly in the southern Sindh province. These birds include houbara bustards, cranes, teals, pintails, mallards, geese, spoon bills, waders, and pelicans.
Riaz Haq said…
ish-farming – aqua-culture
in the heart of the desert


https://www.tharfoundation.org/sdg/

Followed by the successful Bio-saline agriculture at Thar Block II, the Thar Foundation has initiated breeding fish in the man-made Gorano Reservoir, where brackish and saline ground water extracted from the depth of 180 m, containing 5000 ppm is stored.

About 7 species of fish including Morakhi (Mrigal Carp), Rohu (Labea Rohita), Theli, Kuriro, Gulfam, African Catfish, and Dangri (Barramundi) are being raised in the project. Around 100,000 small fishes of these species were released, as seeds, at the outset of the project which have now been grown into fully mature fish. The fish raised at Gorano are purely organic with no artificial chemical used at any point of breeding and has been declared fit for human consumption by medical laboratories. The extension plan has already been launched under “Desert Fisheries Initiative” in collaboration with Livestock and Fisheries Department, Government of Sindh where 200,000 seeds have been released in May 2019. In the first year, 12,000 KGs of fish catch was cultivated. The fish catch is distributed to local villages free of cost every year. The fish farmed at the reservoir will be used as a source of livelihood as well as nutrition for the local population specially the students of Thar Foundation schools.
Riaz Haq said…
Cause for Celebration: Coal-Fired Plant Provides #Power, #Economic Boost to #Pakistan. The plant uses Thar coal with state-of-the-art #environmental control systems, including electrostatic precipitator. #Sindh #Thar #technology. #electricity https://www.powermag.com/cause-for-celebration-plant-provides-power-economic-boost-to-pakistan/#.YQf2yVQQc3g.twitter

The Engro Powergen Thar Ltd. power station is transforming a desert region that has long sought reliable electricity to support its economy, create jobs, utilize an abundant natural resource, and help solve an energy crisis.

The importance of a coal-fired power plant to an entire region, and to a country, was highlighted in Pakistan earlier this year. It’s not often that government officials and the general public come together to celebrate an energy project, but in this case, there was plenty of excitement about how the Engro Powergen Thar Ltd. (EPTL) facility is enabling Pakistan to take advantage of its natural resources, and provide economic opportunities and support for a harsh desert region considered a difficult place to live.

The EPTL plant utilizes Thar coal—which the country has in abundance in the Tharparkar region—to generate electricity. Officials say it will make Pakistan, a country that has faced electricity shortfalls for years, more energy secure, and provide a viable solution to an ongoing energy crisis.

The realization that the country’s reserves of lignite coal can be used in a domestic power plant prompted a three-day festival in March, and has led Pakistani officials to call the EPTL facility transformational for the country’s future. It’s among the many reasons POWER has chosen EPTL as a Top Plant in the coal-fired category.

“The proof of concept that electricity can be produced from Thar coal has been demonstrated successfully by EPTL, [and] it is the first plant to utilize this lignite coal for production of electricity,” said Syed Manzoor Hussain Zaidi, CEO of EPTL.

State-of-the-Art Equipment
The EPTL plant, located about 280 miles southeast of Karachi in the Sindh province of Pakistan, is what Pakistani officials call a first-of-its-kind mine mouth power plant, using indigenous Thar coal—the first power generation facility to do so. It is equipped with two 330-MW circulating fluidized bed boilers, along with an innovative three (steam-cooled) cyclones arrangement, with once reheat, two cylinders, two flow exhausting, single-axial and condensing steam turbine generators. The plant has what operators consider state-of-the-art environmental control systems, including electrostatic precipitator technology, which helps the plant meet the International Finance Corp.’s (IFC’s)—a subsidiary of World Bank—emissions guidelines.

The plant’s equipment and other facilities have been designed to function safely and smoothly in a harsh desert environment—for example, ambient temperatures as high as 50C (122F), with excessive dust. The plant also has a laboratory equipped with state-of-the-art equipment to ensure that the quality of coal being utilized meets the design specifications and safety requirements.

Officials said that advanced control strategies such as a robust distributed control system (DCS) have been implemented to ensure EPTL is a fully automated plant. Despite the variable coal quality from the mine, which is a big challenge for the plant, control loops have been optimized to ensure efficient operation. Officials said that alarm rationalization was recently performed as per the International Society of Automation (ISA) 18.2 standard; after which, the recurring alarms were reduced by 99% and alarms per operator per hour are less than 12.
Riaz Haq said…
Pakistan’s Thar desert lignite coal boom gathers pace with SECMC mine hitting 10 Mt & SSRL mine starting up

https://im-mining.com/2021/12/31/pakistans-thar-desert-lignite-coal-boom-gathers-pace-secmc-mine-hitting-10-mt-ssrl-mine-starting/


During the course of operations, SECMC has maintained a stellar safety record following international and world-class benchmarks – a feat that has earned international acknowledgements from organizations such as British Safety Council. The Company has also adopted the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework to deploy high-impact interventions prioritising education, health, economic growth and women empowerment amongst other areas.

SECMC has also contributed to uplifting the local community by generating employment opportunities for the local population and creating other economic avenues for the community. It is pertinent to mention that 80% of the employees in SECMC are locals from Sindh where the project has provided significant socio-economic benefit to the local Thari population.

“The 10 Mt coal production mark is a commendable achievement considering the constant fluctuation and vulnerability in international coal prices,” said Chief Executive Officer SECMC – Amir Iqbal. He added that Thar coal is the best resource to help the national economy in terms of easing out the pressure on the Current Account Deficit and also indigenise the current energy mix which is heavily reliant on imported fuels. Currently, the second phase of the SECMC mine is already under development which will increase SECMC’s production to 7.6 Mt per annum with a cumulative power generation of 1,320MW.

Talking about the subsequent phase III expansion project, Iqbal said that the estimated investment for phase III expansion is to be approximately $100 million which will enable Thar Block-II to achieve a sustainable supply of 12.2 Mt of coal annually over the next 30 years. SECMC is expected to complete this expansion by June 2023 and with this expansion coal price of SECMC mine is to be reduced to under $30/t – making it the cheapest fuel source in the country ensuring economic stability and energy security for the country. In addition, phase III expansion will also enable Pakistan to save $420 million per annum on the account of import substitution whilst also leading to a reduction of PKR74 billion in circular debt on an annual basis.
Riaz Haq said…
First HVDC transmission line tested with full load of 4,000MW


https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/878333-first-hvdc-transmission-line-tested-with-full-load-of-4-000mw

Dubbed as flagship China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project, 660kV Matiari-Lahore HVDC Line is the largest ever transmission sector project of the country in terms of its capacity as well as one of the longest in distance, connecting power generation units in the south with load centers upcountry.
“The HVDC line transcends a geographical length of about 900 km, marking the start of an era of long-distance power transmission in the country,” said an official of National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC).

“It is a unique project in the sense that it introduces HVDC technology for the first time in the national grid, enriching the technology mix of the grid.”

The official added that the trial operation was being carried out through NTDC transmission system.

“The Project has a design capacity of 4,000MW and will help evacuate power from cheaper Southern coal power plants and deliver it to load centers in the North of the country.”

Above all, the official said, the ongoing trial operation of the transmission line helped in contributing the record highest power transmitted on August 11, 2021 at 24,467 MW through the national grid.

“In 2020, peak load sustained by the national grid was 23,370MW for one day and in 2018 it was just 20,811 MW. With the launching of HVDC Matiari-Lahore Transmission Project, power dispersal capacity of the national grid has seen a massive jump of 4000mw in one go,” said an official.

He added that the ongoing trial operation marked one of the last steps in the completion of the project.

“In this last stage it will be trial-operated for a few days continuously at various power levels and under various configurations to test it in full running condition,” said the official.

Furthermore, the Capability Demonstration Test of the Project will also be performed during this period.

It is informed that the equipment debugging, station commissioning, and system commissioning up to the level of high power bipole testing of the project has already been completed, certified by both the Independent Engineer from Italy and Owner Engineer from Canada.

Despite Covid-19 pandemic, the overall work was completed by end of 2020. Earlier, the project was expected to be commissioned by March 2021 after going through trial run. However, after reaching an amicable solution, the contractor and NTDC agreed in writing to conduct trial run during peak load of summer months with COD in September 2021.
Riaz Haq said…
Coal accounts for 32% of total power generation in Pakistan in January 2021

https://www.dawn.com/news/1609100


In the last five years Pakistan has aggressively pursued coal power under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative as well as outside it, increasing coal-based capacity from negligible to 4,620 megawatts. With seven other coal-based projects under construction, the country expects to add 4,590 megawatts by the end of 2026.

---------------

Coal-based power generation in January rose to the seven-month high of 2,560 gigawatt hours (GWh) as total generation from different fuels increased by 3.7 per cent to 8,079 GWh from 7,794 GWh a year ago and by 2.5 per cent from 7,880 GWh from the previous month.

Coal power generation in the country peaked at 2,581 GWh in July last year before sliding back to 1,095 GWh in November. As a ratio of total generation in any given month in the last three years since the beginning of 2018, the share of coal power rose its highest of just below 32pc in January 2021. According to data, share of coal generation in the country’s total electricity output bottomed to 9.2pc in September 2018.

In the last five years Pakistan has aggressively pursued coal power under the multi-billion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative as well as outside it, increasing coal-based capacity from negligible to 4,620 megawatts. With seven other coal-based projects under construction, the country expects to add 4,590 megawatts by the end of 2026.

Coal power has increased by above 62pc to 15,262 GWh during the first seven months of the current fiscal year from 9,395 GWh during the same period in FY19, underscoring growth in its capacity and utilisation because of fuel price considerations. Its share in overall generation during the period July-January has risen from 12.9pc in FY19 to around 20pc this year in spite of 8.7pc increase in the cost of coal-based generation year-on-year to Rs6.47 per KWh last month on global coal prices.

An Arif Habib analyst, Rao Aamir Ali, said the share of coal power during winter increases because of reduction in hydel generation and closure of gas-based plants due to the shortage of the fuel. He pointed out that the share of coal power in the country’s generation will likely double in the years to come as new plants come online over the next six years to end 2026.

Sheikh Mohammad Iqbal, a power-sector consultant based in Lahore, is glad to see the increasing share of coal power in the country’s total power generation. “I am of the firm view that maximum utilisation of the coal-based power is critical for slashing the overall cost of generation. It is good for the economy of countries like Pakistan even though some may oppose coal power because of its potential impact on the environment.

“But they should remember that the coal power technology has improved a great deal and it no longer can be regarded dirty fuel when it comes to producing electricity from it. I would say coal is much cleaner fuel for electricity generation than furnace oil.”

Riaz Haq said…
Suki Kinari Hydropower project to be completed by next year


https://youtu.be/vCfVyzArWUU

———-

https://nation.com.pk/10-Feb-2022/suki-kinari-power-project-a-symbol-of-pak-china-strong-bonds?version=amp

The project commenced in 2017 by “Suki Kinari Hydro Private Limited” and a Chinese “Gezhouba Group Company Limited” under the China Pakistan Economic Corridor.

Project to be operational by April 2023 will provide electricity to 1.3m houses across

the country

The project stretched over 48 kilometres from Paras village along with the River to Palodhran in Kaghan valley. It is a diversion type hydro power project between high head and long tunnel with an installation capacity of generating power of 884 MW daily, Project Engineer Asad Bhatti told this scribe.

He said that the work on power house is also underway. The power house is located underground mountains approximately 30 kilometres downstream of the dam and the construction involves building of 30-kilometre tunnels for water flows in high mountains, which have been completed and finishing work of the tunnels is underway.

The project engineer also told the media the highly efficient Pelton turbines installed at the project will generate 3000 GWH of green electricity annually, sufficient enough to provide power to 1.3 million homes across Pakistan through the national grid. He said the power project will contribute to 14 of the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and will boost the regional economy by $3 billion. The total cost of the project is approximately $2 billion. About 83% of the construction work has been completed successfully and is likely to be operational in April 2023. "This power project and many other projects under the CPEC are provided complete security cover by the Pakistan Army through comprehensive security mechanism", GOC CPEC Security Division Maj Gen Kamran Nazir Malik told the media at the project site.
Riaz Haq said…
Seeing the rural Sindh through the lens of ‘Guddu Pakistani’
His biggest accomplishment is to show the Sindh that needs to be seen and known

https://gulfnews.com/world/asia/pakistan/seeing-the-rural-sindh-through-the-lens-of-guddu-pakistani-1.86725862

Islamabad: Brimming with energy and colours, the landscape, culture and people of rural Sindh fascinate in a way that few places do.

Sindh feels like seeing life through a kaleidoscope when viewed from the lens of duEmmanuel Gud – the photographer who captures the heart and soul of the region, showing to the world that life in rural Sindh is not as dull and dusty as generally assumed.

“My photographs are changing the perception of Sindh, showing the vivacious culture, simple people and stunning architecture of my beautiful home region,” said Emmanuel Guddu in an interview with Gulf News. The 42-year-old freelance photographer hails from Sindh’s Mirpur Khas city, best known for its delicious mangoes.

Emmanuel, who is famously known as ‘Guddu Pakistani’ on social media, says that his biggest accomplishment is to show the Sindh that needs to be seen and known. “I can think of no greater honour nor privilege than knowing that I have lived a life, creating images, sharing the stories and struggles of the incredible people of Sindh, the culture of the beautiful land I call home,” he shared during the interview.

The photos sometimes are surprising not just for foreigners and residents of other regions of Pakistan but even the people of Sindh themselves as not many locals travel outside their hometowns, he says. Emmanuel calls himself the ‘Awara (wandering) photographer’. “Photographers are passionate people who are willing to go to any length to share their passion with people,” he believes.


What inspired him?
Born as a Catholic Christian, he belongs to the Kachhi Kolhi Hindu community in Sindh. He found his inspiration early from National Geographic magazines in which the pictures of the cultural and historic sites and vibrant communities moved him. “Those photos inspired me and I decided I will also show to the world the unique culture of my land.”

Personal life and photography career
Emmanuel, who is the eldest among his siblings, wasn’t able to continue education after 10th grade as he was expected to start working to support his family. Remembering the tough days, he shared that his father worked at the community church and his mother as a seamstress, struggling to put food on the table and raise the family. Later, the family sent Emmanuel to Lahore to become a priest at a church where his maternal uncle served as the priest. But that is not where he was meant to be.

Emmanuel’s professional photography career started in 2010 when he went to capture the impact of the 2010 floods, the worst in Pakistan’s history that submerged entire towns. “Some of the portraits of flood survivors in Sindh and the enormity of the floodwater that I captured went viral,” he shared. It was then that Emmanuel knew he had found something he wanted to passionately pursue: photography.

Stories behind the photographs
His brilliant and breathtaking photographs reveal that Pakistan’s province of Sindh is home to fascinating architecture and shrines, majestic deserts and lakes, rural tattooed women, exquisite pottery and handicrafts, mud and straw houses, unique traditional food and beautiful birds.

In one photograph taken in Tharparkar, a woman in her traditional, vivid red dress, is seen feeding her brilliant blue peacock. The image is among his favourite. “This photo captures the pure human-animal relation. This bond is strong in Sindh.”

Many of his pictures capture the rural women of Sindh, working in the farms and at their homes, in their bright traditional dresses, faces hidden behind the veils and wearing white bangles from wrist to the entire length of their arm. “Our women have tattoos on their faces, necks, hands and even on foot,” he shared. It is this unique rural culture and heritage that he aims to show through his photographs and videos.
Riaz Haq said…
Nai Gaj Dam is an embankment dam currently under construction on the Gaj River in the gorge area at the edge of Kirthar Mountains range at about 65 kilometres (40 mi) north-west of Dadu city in Dadu District, Sindh Province of Pakistan. When complete, its power station will have a 4.2 MW installed capacity. Consultant supervision by Techno Consult International (TCI) from Karachi, Pakistan.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nai_Gaj_Dam

Construction of the dam started in May 2012. Initially planned to be completed in 3 years, the project has been heavily delayed, increasing its cost from an initial estimate of Rs17 Billon to a revised Rs 47.7 Billion in 2019, with a completion now expected in mid-2021. Around 51% of the construction work was completed as of 2018.

It is estimated that water will be supplied from Nai Gaj Dam to 28800 acres land in tehsil Johi and 300000 acres in other areas of Dadu District. Moreover, Nai Gaj Dam will supply 50 cusecs of water to the Lake Manchar for decreasing its pollution. Furthermore, the water will also be supplied from the dam to Kachho desert and area of Kohistan in Dadu District. PM Imran Khan vowed to complete the project and expressed concern over ineptitude of sindh

Riaz Haq said…
Tharparkar district — par kar means to cross over — is entirely desert, and belongs to a larger arid zone known as the Thar Desert that extends into India. In fact, only 15 percent of the Thar Desert is part of Pakistan.

https://www.aljazeera.com/features/longform/2022/6/19/the-mystifying-rise-of-suicide-in-pakistans-thar-desert

For centuries, the region had a life of its own, separate from the rest of the subcontinent and contingent on caste hierarchies and patterns of rainfall. For nearly a century, seasonal migration was the warp and weft of desert life: Thari people, traditionally farmers and herders, cultivated bajra (millet) during the rainy season, a hardy small-grained cereal integral to the local diet since prehistoric times. After the summer harvest, with the onset of the dry season, most Tharis — especially "lower-caste" Bheel, Kohli, and Meghwar communities — would migrate to the irrigated plains of Sindh to harvest wheat. Up until the 1970s, Tharis scarcely dealt in cash. For their labour in the wheat fields, they were provided protection by landlords, grazing grounds for livestock, and allowed to collect wheat stubble to feed animals when they returned home to await the summer rains.

This ebb and flow of life in Tharparkar was recorded by the social researcher Arif Hasan in 1987 but, even at the time of writing, he noted that this way of life was dissipating. Tharparkar has historically been a Hindu-majority region, but the creation of Pakistan and subsequent wars with India upended old religious and caste hierarchies.

The introduction of more lucrative “cash” crops such as sugarcane clashed with the longstanding patterns of migration. When drought struck in the 1980s, NGOs and social workers entered the fray and with them paved roads, market goods and the cash economy. Still, for the rest of Pakistan, Thar was largely seen as a brown blip on the national map, a faraway land of camels, exotic clothes, and malnourished babies. Until, that is, the early 2010s, when the state decided to begin digging up the vast reserves of lignite coal underneath the desert.

Suddenly, in the national imagination, the desert morphed from deadwood to golden goose. Banks, mobile shops and petrol stations sprouted up. The network of roads became wider and denser.

Professionals from other parts of Pakistan, even from China, moved in for coal-related employment. Guesthouses sprung up along the new roads, designed to look like traditional Thar housing: round white huts with peaked roofs made of thatch, known as chaunras. Long gone were the days of bajre ki roti and lassi — you can now order “Chinese biryani” at local restaurants.

As for Mithi, according to Hasan, it grew by 200 percent in just five years.

Visiting in 2017, he noted that steel for reinforced concrete construction was in short supply and because of deforestation, local timber was no longer available. Many Tharis migrated to Mithi and other urban centres because their ancestral lands were acquired by the state for its various development projects. Some moved to avail new opportunities, and others because, as the climate grew more erratic, the old agrarian way of life became increasingly untenable. Coal exploitation will only serve to exacerbate this last trend, observers have pointed out. Since 2014, when the first coal power project was inaugurated, people have protested against land acquisition, neo-colonisation, increased securitisation, water security, and ecological disruption.

Thar badlega Pakistan. For now, the first part of the state’s battle cry has come to pass. Thar will transform.

Riaz Haq said…
A friendly desert - Newspaper - DAWN.COM

Opinion by Rajesh Kumar Goyal
Assistant Commissioner Karachi

https://www.dawn.com/news/1696453

THARPARKAR has always been portrayed as an underprivileged area with low socioeconomic indicators. Drought, water crisis, infant mortality, suicide cases, grievances of the locals against Thar coal, Gorano dam issues, displacement of indigenous people on account of industrialisation, lack of health and educational facilities, and much more like these have made headlines in national and international media from time to time.

My own experience, however, has been quite different and surprising since the day I was posted in Mithi. To me, Thar is a beautiful place.

The day I stepped in Mithi, I was fasci-nated and surprised to see such a neat and clean city with spacious roads, glittering streetlights, decent infrastructure and the amazing night-time view of Mithi city from Gadi Bhit.

The more I explored Mithi, the more I found it to be a beautiful, unique and amazing city. My prior impression, formed on the basis of media reports, stood shattered. It is the shattering of such illusions that has compelled me to share my personal experience of the area and its lovely and loving people.

The idea is to portray the brighter side of Tharparkar, which rarely gets the attention that it deserves. Tharparkar is not just a desert; it is a vegetative desert, meaning a friendly desert. Thari people, being extremely resilient, live in the lap of nature, eat natural, organic food, walk miles on foot, sleep early, wake up early and enjoy a satisfied and fulfilled life away from everything that defines urban life.

On the development side, Tharparkar is undergoing serious transformation. Thar coal has contributed a lot to its development, though there is still a long way to go. Its beautiful wide network of roads, comfortable rest houses, government as well as private health facilities, educational centres make it a far better district than many others across Sindh.

Its historical sites, such as Gori Temple, Bhodisar Mosque, Jain Temple, Karoonjhar Hills, Gadi Bhit, and, above all, its scenic natural beauty during the monsoon attract a large number of tourists from all over Pakistan who visit to explore Thar and its rich culture.

Mithi, the headquarters of Tharparkar, is an embodiment of tolerance, interfaith harmony and human compassion. The loving people of Mithi live together in peace and harmony regardless of their religious creed. All religious festivals are celebrated by both Muslim and Hindu communities.

Not visiting Tharparkar, especially during the monsoon when it is in full bloom, is like depriving oneself of a chance to enjoy the rich Thari culture, some real fun, and peace and relaxation that this beautiful place offers. Try it this monsoon!
Riaz Haq said…
#Monsoon rains in #Tharparkar in #Sindh, #Pakistan have created vast green pastures to help the local #economy that depends on livestock. Water ponds in the desert are filled to capacity, bringing a sigh a relief for the #drought-stricken population https://www.brecorder.com/news/40188619/2nd-half-of-monsoon-season-likely-to-produce-less-rainfall

The second half of the monsoon season is likely to fetch less rains compared with the first half, said sources from Pakistan Meteorological Department.

The monsoon season starts from early July and continues until 15th of September in Pakistan every year. The PMD sources said about five to six hundred times more rains have been witnessed during the last 26 days, and there was virtually everyday rain in the country since July.

They said the ongoing spell of heavy rains is likely to continue until the first week of August, followed by a long interval in rains any further. However, they added in the same breath, the actual forecast would be issued by early August.

It may be noted that the areas within the country known for less rains have received heavy spells during the current monsoon season. Right from the South of Punjab to the upper Sindh, there was heavy rain for almost the whole of the month.

The PMD sources said heavy rains have wreaked havoc with the date orchards in Sindh as the crop was at the ripening stage and the farmers found themselves into a troublesome situation so far storage of the crop is concerned.

Traditionally, they said, the province of Sindh used to receive monsoon rains during the later part of the season, which got reversed this year and thus causing damage to the date crop. They said farmers in Sindh were busy in drying up dates nowadays before dispatching them to market.

However, rains are proved healthier to the rest of the seasonal crops including cotton, maize, rice, and sugarcane in the country. Also, they said sufficient rains in Tharparkar have led to mushroom growth of green pastures in the area, beneficial to the local economy. Besides, the water ponds are covered up to their storage capacity in the deserted areas, brining a sigh a relief to the local population.

According to the sources, the cotton crop has also faced less damage due to the fact that most of the plants were yet at the maturity stage. Chances of damage were high in case rains approach to the cotton growing areas in the second half of the season.

However, they feared various leaf relating diseases due to the high level of moisture in the air ahead. Same is true for the rice crop that was facing huge damage over the past few years due to traditional heavy rains during the second half of the monsoon season. So far as Balochistan is concerned, the sources said small dams have been overflowed due to heavy downpours, causing damage to the localities due to flashfloods.

Riaz Haq said…
Pakistan’s Thar desert lignite coal boom gathers pace with SECMC mine hitting 10 Mt & SSRL mine starting up

https://im-mining.com/2021/12/31/pakistans-thar-desert-lignite-coal-boom-gathers-pace-secmc-mine-hitting-10-mt-ssrl-mine-starting/

During the course of operations, SECMC has maintained a good safety record following international and world-class benchmarks – a feat that has earned international acknowledgements from organisations such as the British Safety Council. SECMC has also adopted the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) framework to deploy high-impact interventions prioritising education, health, economic growth and women empowerment amongst other areas.

SECMC has also contributed to uplifting the local community by generating employment opportunities for the local population and creating other economic avenues for the community. It is pertinent to mention that 80% of the employees in SECMC are locals from Sindh where the project has provided significant socio-economic benefit to the local Thari population.

“The 10 Mt coal production mark is a commendable achievement considering the constant fluctuation and vulnerability in international coal prices,” said Chief Executive Officer SECMC – Amir Iqbal. He added that Thar coal is the best resource to help the national economy in terms of easing out the pressure on the Current Account Deficit and also indigenise the current energy mix which is heavily reliant on imported fuels. Currently, the second phase of the SECMC mine is already under development which will increase SECMC’s production to 7.6 Mt per annum with a cumulative power generation of 1,320MW.

Talking about the subsequent phase III expansion project, Iqbal said that the estimated investment for phase III expansion is to be approximately $100 million which will enable Thar Block-II to achieve a sustainable supply of 12.2 Mt of coal annually over the next 30 years. SECMC is expected to complete this expansion by June 2023 and with this expansion coal price of SECMC mine is to be reduced to under $30/t – making it the cheapest fuel source in the country ensuring economic stability and energy security for the country. In addition, phase III expansion will also enable Pakistan to save $420 million per annum on the account of import substitution whilst also leading to a reduction of PKR74 billion in circular debt on an annual basis.
Riaz Haq said…
Kitchen garden in a desert | WaterAid Pakistan

https://www.wateraid.org/pk/stories/kitchen-garden-in-a-desert

Tharparkar is the 18th largest desert in the world and is considered to be the only fertile desert. However, the limited period of rainfall in the area results in a shortage of water even for the basic needs. Hence, the inhabitants are not able to fully benefit of the fertility of the land. But the fertility has increased the beauty of the desert with naturally grown trees. The area becomes mesmerising in the rainy season that it attracts tourists mostly from the Sindh province and some from other provinces as well.
Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144

The main recommendation of the 1987 report on drought and famine conditions in Thar, prepared by the author, was that the changes taking place in Thar could only be consolidated through increased mobility and linkages of Thar with the rest of Pakistan in general and Karachi and Hyderabad in particular.

It was felt that, if a road-building programme did not take place, the inequities in Thari society would increase, since those who could hire or possess four-wheel drives would be the main beneficiaries of Thar’s huge mineral and livestock potential.

For mobility and linkages to happen, a road-building programme had been recommended, which envisaged linking the four Thar taluka headquarters with one another and with the national road network. However, it was not till the Musharraf era (2000-08) that a road-building programme commenced.

The roads have made transportation cheaper and easier. The old six-wheeler kekra [World War II era American truck], which was slow and consumed enormous amounts of energy plying on the desert tracks, has been replaced by normal Bedford trucks, which are cheaper to run and can carry 250 maunds as opposed to 150 maunds carried by the kekras.

It is claimed by the transporters that, earlier, it used to take three hours from Mithi to Naukot, but now this has been reduced to one hour. They also claim that the cost of petrol/diesel and maintenance of vehicles have been reduced by 20 per cent.

With the building of the road network, trade and commerce has increased substantially. Thar’s agricultural produce now goes to distant markets — six to seven lorries per day carry onions from Nagarparkar to Lahore, and vegetables and fruit from other areas of Sindh and Punjab are now easily available in Thar.

Unlike the situation that prevailed 15 years ago, there are cattle markets in the taluka headquarters, so the Tharis do not have to make the long trek on foot to Juddo to sell their animals. Shops carrying industrially produced household food have multiplied and sell items such as baby diapers, something quite unimaginable before. Every hour an air-conditioned bus, complete with TV and Wi-Fi (owned mainly by Pakhtuns and people of Mianwali based in Karachi) leaves for or arrives in Mithi.

The number of taxis operating in Thar has increased from 150 to over 400, while the qingqis in Mithi have increased from over 150 to over 300 since 2013. These taxis carry passengers not only within Thar but to distant locations all over Pakistan, while the qingqis have almost completely replaced transport animals such as camels and bullocks.

Bank loans for the purchase of taxis are available, but to buy the qingqis and trucks, one can only borrow from the informal market. Interest rates against loans are high and vary depending on how much advance payment can be made by the borrower, or if property or land can be mortgaged against the loan. Spare parts and mechanics for the maintenance of the taxis and qingqis are locally available, which was not so in 2000 and, very often, the vehicles had to be taken to Umerkot for maintenance purposes.

Almost all these different types of vehicles have no insurance, since the owners find insurance rates far too expensive and prefer to put their trust in God. The qingqi and taxi owners have no association but are of the opinion that they desperately need one to negotiate with government agencies and fight against the bhatta [protection money] that the police extorts from them.

An association is also necessary to resist pressure from national transporters’ associations, who coerce the Thari transporters to call a strike on their advice. This was not an issue in the past, because the kekras, which the new vehicles replaced, were collectively owned by seths in Umerkot and Naukot. One truck driver pointed out that there was a desperate need for a driving school in Mithi, because people who were learning to drive were dangerous and caused a large number of animal deaths.
Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144


The roads have also brought about a change in lifestyles and supported people in fulfilling their aspirations and needs. For instance, the kekras have been converted into water tankers; people can now actually order one by phone, to pick up water from Mithi and deliver it to the village. In many neighbourhoods, this is now the preferred source of potable water. The tanker is often shared by many families and this is encouraging the construction of individual underground water tanks.

Similarly, access to healthcare units, especially to the Civil Hospital in Mithi, has become a lot easier and faster, and has been of special importance in maternity-related cases. At a meeting of lady health workers (LHWs) attended by my colleagues and myself in 2011, the LHWs requested that they be given motorbikes now that roads had been built, as this would make their work easier. When told that their husbands and sons would not agree, one of them said that, earlier, they had not agreed to us working but now we work; so tomorrow we will also ride motorbikes.

A major change has also occurred in gender relations — males are less restrictive; there is an increase in education and hygiene; women can now move around without male escorts; women have more say in domestic affairs; and have learnt to talk and carry themselves with confidence, as they have got rid of fear. Before, they had to take permission to go to their parents’ house, but that is not so anymore in the majority of cases.

Clothes have also changed and, as one Thari woman put it, they now prefer to dress for ‘fashion’ as opposed to tradition. People have stopped using asli ghee [clarified butter] and taken to Dalda, and they no longer use bajra [millet] bread but purchase flour instead. As one old Thari put it: “Earlier, we would eat what we grew. Now, we sell what we grow and buy what we eat.”

In addition, weapons’ shops, the consumption of liquor, eating out and discussions on inter-caste marriages are increasing and becoming acceptable. Religious groups have also multiplied and have become the cause of considerable tension between different religions. There is also considerable questioning of the latter trend by a nascent civil society.

The number of shops has also increased — in Mithi there were 20 to 25 grocery shops in 2015, as opposed to seven or eight 10 years earlier. In some villages we visited, there were six to seven kiriana [grocery] shops, where only one or two existed in 1998. Earlier, their owners used to travel to Hyderabad to buy goods but, today, because of the road and mobile phone, they just order the items from Karachi and the transporter delivers them. The clients at the stores are both rural and urban.

Procurement of alternative energy sources like solar panels, easily accessible via the road network, has enabled Tharis to produce and consume goods that were previously scarce in the desert | White Star
Almost all the villages visited by me over the last decade and a half are still engaged in agriculture and herding. The majority of households do not own cattle or land and, although a minority, there are also villages where families do not have goats either.

Government jobs are preferred because of job security and because they add to the respectability of the person. However, the number of persons working in the public sector are negligible and are found only in better-off villages. The majority of households encountered do labour in the barrage areas or in the urban centres of Thar or Sindh.

Meghwar men also work in the garment industry in Karachi, where they save Rs 10-12,000 a month. These persons spend about four months getting trained in Karachi for the job. During this time, they receive no pay. The question is, can they be trained in Thar before they leave for Karachi? They also work as masons and building contractors in Thar’s expanding urban areas.


Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144


Spread all over Thar, the Meghwar community is endowed with great artisanal skills. Embroidery and weaving are their two more significant skills. They produce carpets, shawls, blankets (khatta), kurtas, tablecloths, bedcovers and trinkets, which are in great demand. In fact, business is so good that many middlemen have opened outlets in Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad, Peshawar and a number of smaller towns in Sindh and the Punjab. Access to these markets was previously difficult but, with the building of roads, this has become much easier.

In addition, tourism has expanded in Thar and tens of thousands of people visit the area every year after the rains and for the many religious festivals that the desert celebrates. The expansion of NGOs and the roads, put together, have helped increase both international and elite domestic tourism. Businesses dealing in handicrafts claim that they can increase their market size if a proper tourism programme is initiated by the government or a private enterprise. Women, who are the most important producers of handicrafts, should logically be the main beneficiaries of such a programme.

Twenty to 25 carpentry workshops have started functioning in Thar over the past 10 years. The carpenters are from the rural areas of Thar, where they worked for the rural population, who paid them in grain. According to them, they have migrated from the traditional beygaar [unpaid labour] and caste culture and are now paid in cash, which has given them both social and economic mobility.

They have strong links with Karachi, since they import timber from there. They also use local Thari timber, but there is growing resistance to it, as the trees, especially the kandi [Prosopis cineraria], are fast disappearing. The carpenters say that if they are provided loans for buying power tools, they could easily increase their work, as the demand for carpentry is unmet.

The building of roads has also led to the establishment of petrol pumps, CNG [compressed natural gas] outlets, and maintenance services for vehicles. This has created a very large number of jobs and brought in money to the rural areas. In addition, building materials, especially burnt bricks that were imported from the barrage areas at considerable cost, have become cheaper by about 18 percent.

Roads have also helped in the increase of salt and china clay mining and there has been a growth in the number of enterprises in this sector. There is general consensus that this has also resulted in more jobs, especially for those villages that are next to the mines. The lives of the families who have benefitted from this growth in the job market have changed and the first investments they make is in the building of pakka houses, with steel channel and brick-tiled roofs. Another important investment is in motorbikes, which makes flexible and faster mobility possible. People have sold their camels and donkeys to buy motorbikes.

Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144



However, a number of negative aspects were also discussed in village community meetings, especially in a 2011 visit. For household fuel, the population was still dependent on devi [mesquite] bushes. Many wanted gas cylinders and said that, with added income, they would be able to afford them.

Everyone complained of the disappearance or encroachment of gowcher [pasture] lands, because of government agencies or powerful individuals. Because the area is now connected by roads, land has become more expensive, which only the rich can buy to accommodate their enlarged families.

While people earn more, they also spend more, very often on things that they don’t really need. For instance, fresh milk is readily available in Tharparkar, but there is a growing preference for tetra pack milk and the use of mineral water is becoming increasingly popular — and to top it all, in weddings, baraats [wedding processions] no longer come in kekras, but in cars.

With the coming of roads, incidents of thefts have increased and the old method of investigating crime, by tracking footprints in the sand, is no longer feasible. No one abides by parking rules and regulations and so, although there are very few vehicles, traffic jams are not uncommon. Accidents involving cattle have increased substantially, and wildlife which was commonly seen while travelling on desert tracks is not visible anymore.

The coming of roads and the pressures of ‘modern life’ has also led to the establishment of a media sector, which is generating jobs in various taluka headquarters. Press clubs have developed where people can voice their concerns and show support or opposition to government policies. This is creating a more aware and politically involved population, and is providing news about Thar not only to Pakistan but also internationally, through channels such as the BBC [British Broadcasting Corporation] and VOA [Voice of America]. The more educated young Tharis are already working as journalists and reporters in the media industry and their number is growing.

One important trade that is seldom discussed, unless prompted, is related to wool and animal hair. An extensive discussion on it is available in the 1992 TRDP [Thardeep Rural Development Programme] evaluation and it was again touched upon by my colleague Mansoor Raza and myself in the bazaar in Islamkot.

It has been stated by middlemen in the trade that 10,000 maunds of wool are dispatched to the Karachi market every season and also to India. In Thar, this wool is used for making shawls. It is claimed that, if a mill for making thread from wool is set up in Thar, it would generate jobs and capital. But thread-making needs skill and training, so a training centre would be required. The cost of such a mill would be Rs 15 million and the process would also require non-saline water.

The roads have also impacted the agricultural sector. Animals can now be stall-fed with fodder from the barrage areas because of cheaper means of transport. Migration to the barrage lands in times of drought has become easier and trucks can also be used to transport animals. Because of the roads, men who migrated with their animals can also visit their families unlike before and, with the help of a mobile phone, can keep in touch with them. More than once it was mentioned that, because of the mobile phone, the mother could talk to her daughter who was married to a man in another village.

The building of roads and change in attitudes has encouraged the use of tractors for ploughing the land. This has damaged agricultural land and made it less productive, because tractor ploughing turns a much larger volume of soil than that done by an animal and, in Thar, only the top soil is productive. Tractor use is as expensive as using an animal (such as a camel) but it is much quicker, since it ploughs in less time.
Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144


Climate change is also affecting agricultural production in Tharparkar. Rain patterns have already changed, and this is affecting cropping patterns and will eventually also affect the technology of production. Fertiliser and pesticide has also increased and, with the use of the tractor, it is also destroying friendly insects and the soil. With increasing urbanization, the land under cultivation is also decreasing.

Education

There is a growing desire among young people to give up farming, although their elders find it difficult to come to terms with this reality. But farming and herding has to be replaced by something. To that end, the younger generation feels that they need to be trained as electricians, plumbers and tailors, and learn how to use industrial machines. This, they feel, would equip them for work in the urban markets of Sindh and beyond.

In every village visited, education was a priority, but it was claimed that at most only 50 per cent of the village children go to school. One of the reasons given for such low attendance is that, in most cases, there were no female teachers and not enough male teachers. There was also a lack of sufficient classrooms.

With the building of roads, the villagers are now more willing to send their children to school, including girls, since schools are easier to access. In case there are no schools in the village, they are even willing to send their children to the school of the neighbouring village. This holds especially true for villages that do not have middle and high schools.

However, they do not want to send their girls for higher school education to Mithi if it means living in a hostel. Living with relatives is also becoming impossible, since extended family relations were “not what they used to be.” This is in marked contrast to what a number of villages had demanded in 1998, that the government establish hostel facilities for girls at the taluka headquarters. Maybe this change is because of increased insecurity, given the anarchy that exists in other parts of Sindh.

With the building of roads, better incomes and contacts with the urban centres of Sindh, a demand for private schools has also risen and a number of them are operating today. Private schools have never been discussed earlier and nor has there been, to the best of Thari intellectuals and activists, a demand for them. But the demand has increased and a number of private schools are operating today.

In the opinion of Dr Khatau Mal, a prominent Thari intellectual, Thar needs O and A Level schools, so as to produce an elite that is at par with the elite of Sindh’s urban areas, and which will help them get into important decision-making jobs in the province and at the centre. Dr Khatau gave the example of a similar process followed in the Punjab and KP [Khyber Pakhtunkhwa], which helped in poverty alleviation and in the creation of an involved middle class. The counter-argument to this is that, once educated, the middle class would prefer to live in Karachi, Hyderabad and Islamabad, and only come back to Thar when it’s time to die.

A number of Thari activists have also argued that the migration of the potential middle class from the rural to urban areas will be a loss to the village, because it is this middle class that is the voice of the village. If they migrate, then only the landlord and the poor peasant would remain.

Another question that was raised was that people migrate in search of better education and facilities, business opportunities and professional jobs — can they not be provided in Mithi?

It was also pointed out, naming names, that the children of many Tharis who had studied in Karachi and Hyderabad abandoned Thar. It was further said that some sort of major investment in industry was needed to create professional and high-end jobs in the desert, with priority of employment given to the residents of Thar.
Riaz Haq said…
HOW ROADS CHANGED THARPARKAR


by Arif Hasan

https://www.dawn.com/news/1714144


The old parts of the taluka headquarters in Tharparkar were segregated by caste. The lower castes, who cleaned the town and lifted the excreta, lived in the outskirts and wastewater and sewage was dumped in the depressions. Brick-paved open drains carried the sewage and wastewater to their disposal points. The neighbourhoods were clean simply because of the presence of a hereditary professional caste, whose job it was to keep them clean. This has changed to a great extent, because of large-scale rural-urban migration within Thar especially in the last 20 years.

With the building of roads and markets at some distance from the old neighbourhoods, new shopping areas, bus terminals, storage facilities and eating places have developed. With Tharparkar becoming a district in 1990, government and semi-government buildings, hotels, guest houses and government residential accommodation have also been built away from the old neighbourhoods. So one can say that, while the old town still exists, it is in a state of decay, and the new town, which has not been really built so far, is developing without a cohesive planning strategy.

The other visible change is the expansion of settlements on the periphery and within Mithi and Islamkot. Google Maps show that Mithi’s spread has increased by over 200 per cent since 2012 and there has also been considerable densification of the existing built form. The construction boom is so large that steel for reinforced concrete construction, when this note was first written in 2014, was short in supply. Contractors also claimed that local timber for traditional construction was no longer available due to deforestation.

The new settlements are established by enterprising individuals who occupy state land, subdivide it, and sell it to the migrants. Increasingly, however, groups of up to 50 households organise to occupy and settle land on the immediate periphery of the urban areas. Before moving on to the land, they find out about its status and make preparations of dealing with any problem that is likely to surface during the process of occupation.

The support of an influential in the process and the large number of persons involved in settling provide the necessary security from eviction. Once the settlement is established, they lobby with their elected representatives for a road link and electricity and promise their votes in return. These unplanned, randomly located settlements are an ecological disaster that will be a nightmare for future planners.

There is a need to document and direct this development so that the towns of Thar do not face the same problems as the towns of the rest of Sindh do today. For documentation purposes and planning, mid-level expertise is required and, hence, the establishment of a mapping and survey school and a polytechnic institute would be helpful.

Migrants give different reasons for migrating. One reason was that, in the village, the landlord made life difficult for them because, unlike their ancestors, they were not willing to do beygaar for them. Also, unlike conditions in the villages, they could do cash-paid work on a daily basis, educate their children, and become azaad [free]. All those spoken to had no intention of going back.

Excerpt reproduced with permission from Tharparkar: Drought, Development and Social Change by Arif Hasan, published in 2022 by Ushba Publishing International
Riaz Haq said…
NON-FICTION: THE DESERT TRANSFORMED

https://www.dawn.com/news/1724585

Tharparkar: Drought, Development, and Social Change
By Arif Hasan
Ushba, Karachi
ISBN: 978-9699154553
436pp.

In his new book Tharparkar: Drought, Development, and Social Change, architect and city planner Arif Hasan has captured — in the simple yet powerful writing style so familiar to his readers — his long association with this district of Sindh. The association stretches over decades, through his engagement in various projects, formal commissions by several institutions and informal baithaks [meetings] with Thari individuals and communities.

The book is structured clearly and presents facts, observations and analyses in a cohesive and convincing way. It is part academic article, part technical report and part travelogue and memoir. The book comprises three distinct sections, labelled ‘Drought’, ‘Development’ and ‘Social Change’.

The first section explores the conditions that led to the drought of 1987 and describes Hasan’s visits to Tharparkar to document the impacts of this phenomenon on local communities and economies.

Section Two details the Thar Rural Development Project (TRDP) — how it was formulated as a policy outcome of the 1987 drought, the socio-economic and spatial changes it proposed, and the interventions it (un)successfully brought about.

Section Three describes the more recent changes within Tharparkar as a result of new roads, increased tourism and the impacts of the Thar Coal project, and speculates what this spells for the future of Thar, not just as a physical region, but also as a culture, an imaginary and a policy deliverable for the government of Sindh.

In exploring the reasons behind Thar’s present conditions, Hasan mentions two specific disjunctures in the region’s social history: Partition, which violently ruptured the broader regional associations between families and communities; and the more recent Thar Coal project, which has brought about unprecedented disruption at multiple levels.

The coal project has caused both physical and spatial changes as well as social and domestic changes, such as forcing those displaced by coal-mining to move into a vivarium of cosmetic housing typologies — supposed to mimic authentic communities, but considered inappropriate by the villagers — built by the Sindh Engro Coal Mining Company (SECMC), which is a joint venture between the Sindh government and the Engro Corporation.

Hasan’s book creates a chronologically structured narrative that is personal as well as an attempt to provide an objective account of the changes that have taken place in Tharparkar. The author describes the physical features of 1980s’ Thar — its topography, water resources, vegetation and livestock economy — which sets up a basic understanding of the context for the lay reader to situate the socio-political implications of the climatic factors described ahead.

Today, this description reads like an archive of invaluable recollections: Hasan exoticises the Thar of that era, when the region was “another world” where “foxes and porcupines crossed the road” and “timings were determined by the stars and shadows cast by sunlight.” Perhaps it was these fond early memories that lured him to keep returning to Thar over the next three decades.

By being engaged in Thar for such a long time, Hasan was able to catch the earliest signs of how road and trade links to urban Sindh altered the cognitions and aspirations of the Thari communities, and how this reflected in the ways they started to dress, talk and conduct trade. He witnessed — first-hand, as well as through detailed conversations with locals — how the priorities of the Tharis started to shift: from a passionate attachment to tradition, to a curiosity for new technologies, products and services such as standardised education.


Riaz Haq said…
NON-FICTION: THE DESERT TRANSFORMED

https://www.dawn.com/news/1724585

Tharparkar: Drought, Development, and Social Change
By Arif Hasan

Book Review by Adam Abdullah

As the region’s economy started to integrate with that of wider Sindh during the 1980s and 1990s, a number of other visible changes also began taking place, notably in the spatial expansion of traditional markets and the upgrading of housing materials and structures within smaller towns.

Hence, Hasan emphasises how the 1987 famine should be attributed not only to episodic droughts but, more importantly, to these social, economic and demographic shifts in the lives of the desert dwellers, which compounded the effects of the drought to create famine-like conditions for particular populations.

He stresses how, traditionally, Thar and its population had been able to withstand severe climatic conditions by relying on embedded knowledges and practices, and by extending support through rural social networks that had only recently begun to dissociate as people began to “urbanise”, leaving communities vulnerable against sudden natural disasters.

A prominent strength of the book is the detailed appendices that make up its second half, providing data sources and terms of reference and agreements between the various agencies working in Thar, as well as route plans and schedules of field visits conducted by Hasan’s own team. These tables and diagrams set up a replicable methodology in terms of identifying data-generating organisations, the logistics of fieldwork and the kinds of secondary sources that could supplement similar fieldwork in the future.

The book also presents interesting ways to organise and methodise rural ethnography. Although this is not an explicitly stated aim, it provides the tools and a replicable audit trail that might be helpful for a new generation of scholars in urban and rural anthropology.

Despite not being formally structured as an ethnographic manual with memos, notes and active journaling, it gives rich insights into fieldwork, route-planning, active engagement and the contingencies of data collection that can be of immense value for new researchers, field workers, mappers and writers in economics, development studies and social policy, who may be planning to venture into rural Sindh.

However, there is at least one downside: the photographs included within are all black-and-white and of low contrast. This makes it difficult to appreciate visually the incredibly rich details of the mandirs [temples], communal practices and the desertscape, as well as the damaging impacts of the coal project.

Those of us fortunate enough to have visited Tharparkar at least once would fondly recall from hazy memory its desaturated greens, dusky browns and paling yellows; shaky mirages over the horizon; and the fading of thatch roof into sand dune. With black-and-white photographs, all of that chromatic bliss is left only to the memory — or imagination — of the reader.

Another minor shortcoming is that the appendices on demographic growth are cited directly from the Pakistan Bureau of Statistics in their original format. Perhaps processing these into visual graphs would have provided instantly readable snapshots of demographic trends of the particular decades under discussion.

Tharparkar’s changing region constitutes a critical moment in the urbanisation story of Sindh, in not just the changes to the province’s rural economies and socio-cognitive and lifestyle patterns, but also in the stories of the rapid growth of its secondary towns, peripheral urbanisation and spillover externalities, such as unregulated land use.

Researching Thar presents an opportunity for those planning our rural and urban policies to connect more deeply with the field, listen closely to stories from the ground and formulate not just more effective policy trajectories, but also contingency-based plans for unprecedented climatic or economic events that will keep surfacing as development propelled by coal extraction continues in this region.
Riaz Haq said…
The Thar coal power project has started generating 1,320 MW on a trial basis and the electricity would soon become part of national grid, a senior official said on Sunday.

https://www.dawn.com/news/1725886/another-thar-coal-power-plant-starts-test-run-minister

“The test production of 1,320 MW has successfully been started,” Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Sheikh said in a statement issued on Sunday.

“This production plant is being run in cooperation with Shanghai Electric. The fresh production of power supply would soon be included in national grid. The power plants of Engro and Hub Power are already contribution 660 MW each in the national grid,” he said.

Only last week, the federal government had announced that the first unit of the Shanghai Electric’s coal-based power plant has been connected to the national grid.

The development was shared by Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan, who termed it the fruit of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) initiative.
Riaz Haq said…
As Pakistan’s energy import bill touched an exorbitant $27 billion, Prime Minister (PM) Shehbaz Sharif underlined the need to explore indigenous resources including hydel, solar, air and coal to produce cheap electricity.

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2390979/cpec-fruit-1320mw-project-initiated

Federal Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir Khan stated that a 1,320MW project has been initiated by the Shanghai Electric Group in Thar to use indigenous coal for electricity production.

“The plants have been connected to the national grid,” and that the initiative “was borne from the fruit of CPEC projects,” he observed.

Pakistan is suffering from the impact of the greenhouse effect, so green power generation is the trend. PM Sharif also revealed that the incumbent government has prepared a plan to generate 10,000MW of electricity through solar energy.

“We know that Pakistan is rich in solar and wind resources,” said Wang Haowei from Shanghai Electric, the Business Manager of the Zhang Jiakou Green Power Project. “The installed capacity of the project is 150 MW wind power, 30 MW photovoltaic power and 10 MW energy storage.”
Riaz Haq said…
IMF program in Pakistan undermines renewable energy roll-out - Bretton Woods Project

https://www.brettonwoodsproject.org/2022/04/imf-programme-in-pakistan-undermines-renewable-energy-roll-out/

The unprecedented rise in solar photovoltaic (PV) installations in Pakistan’s off-grid and weak grid regions in recent years has been a windfall for vulnerable communities. Buoyed by the GOP’s decision to waive taxes on solar products in 2014, the growth reflects solar’s suitability for powering tube wells, water pumps and purification systems for drinking water and irrigation in remote and water-stressed areas. The primary beneficiaries of this boom have been poor farming communities – especially women – who have historically struggled with access to electricity and water. Solar technology, however, is still a largely import-based market, and growth is likely to be slowed with users unable to meet higher prices.
Riaz Haq said…
Road projects: Sindh prepares projects under PSDP

https://tribune.com.pk/story/2341897/sindh-prepares-projects-under-psdp

Road sector schemes of over Rs85 billion were discussed and cleared in the meeting for the next federal PSDP. They included construction of the 189km Coastal Highway from Keti Bunder to Ali Bunder and building of the road to connect Shaheed Benazirabad, Sanghar to Matiari district.

Other projects included dualisation of the 31km track from Tando Allahyar to Tando Adam Road, construction of a 150km road from Rahri (Sukkur) to Guddu Barrage via Khanpur Mahar, Jarwar, Mirpur Mathelo and Mohammadpur. Also part of the proposed projects was the construction of a 135km additional carriageway of Mehran Highway (Nawabshah-raniput) and a 40km road from Thatta to Jhimpir.

There was also the construction of a 203km road from Sanghar to Salehpat via Mudh Jamraho up to Rahri Road and the 45km additional carriageway of road from Naudero to Lakhi.

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