Six infants die in drought-hit Tharparkar
- By Zohaib Kazmi -
- Feb 28, 2015
The death toll due to food shortage in the desert district of Thar during current year has reached to 190.
The area continues to suffer food shortage causing malnutrition in mothers resulting in various health disorders in newborn children. The desert district of Thar bordering India passing through severe drought spell for a long period. Insufficient health facilities and the government neglect has multiplied the misery of the resident of the area.
Scarce rainfall and the government’s inability to ensure food supplies in the region cause malnutrition and other health issues causing deaths.
The Thar desert, straddling the Indian border and one of Pakistan’s poorest areas, has seen an alarming number of children suffering pneumonia or diarrhea due to a dangerous mix of drought, poverty and poor health infrastructure.
The deaths have prompted criticism for the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which governs Sindh.
The provincial government had recently announced to invest Rs. 5.4 billion ($53 million) in installing 750 solar-powered reverse osmosis water purification plants across the sprawling desert district, to help get safe drinking water to the region’s over 1.5 million population.
According to Sindh government, all of the facilities are expected to be set up and working by June this year.