March 22, 2025
By G.R Junejo
MITHI
Forty-year-old Sita Bai is from a remote village in Tharparkar, and considers finding water her most important daily task. This is not just her story, but an essential part of daily life for millions of people in Tharparkar – especially women like her, who must bear the scorching sand, rough roads, and long distances—only for a single drop of water.
“Water is extremely difficult to find,” Sita says while talking to Voicepk. “First, we (women) have to finish our household chores; after that we must set out in search of water. Everyone works together to draw water from wells, but this is a problem that never ends.”
Beautiful hell
Tharparkar, a historical and cultural region of Sindh, despite its beauty, faces a severe water crisis. Here, 92 percent of the population lives in rural areas, where life depends entirely on rainfall.
Mano, like Sita travels several kilometers daily in search of water.
“We are living in agony without water,” she laments. “Our livestock is dying of thirst, and so are we. Earlier, water was found somewhere or the other, but now the Reverse Osmosis (RO) filtration plants are shutting down. The few that are still running provide water in limited quantities.”
The circumstances become even more serious during summer—wells dry up, ponds empty out, and everyone yearns for even a single drop of water. Indeed survival is badly affected.
Irfan Bajeer, a local resident, explains the bitter reality.
“We had RO plants installed here, but most of them are now non-functional,” he says. “In summer, animals continue to die of thirst, and the wells have also dried up. We travel at least three kilometers just to bring water, but still can’t get satisfactory amounts. Budget allocations come, but where that money is spent, nobody knows.”
Government initiatives marred by corruption
Solar-powered RO plants had been installed in 2011, by the Sindh government which had devised a plan to solve Tharparkar’s water crisis. For this purpose, Rs 5.4 billion were allocated, and a private company ‘Pak Oasis’ was contracted to install 635 RO plants. RO plants had been installed at various times before this as well, and a total of 832 plants have now been installed in Tharparkar.
According to the Public Health Department, Asia’s largest solar-powered RO plant was installed in Mithi at a cost of Rs 934 million, with a capacity to provide 20 million gallons of water daily. Another large plant with a daily capacity of 15 million gallons was established in Islamkot, but both suffer from frequent breakdowns.
Where does the problem lie? The company failed to properly maintain the plants. For six years, even their filters weren’t replaced. In April 2021, the government handed over these plants to a new company, ‘Oslo,’ which received an annual contract of Rs 1.43 billion. But this agreement also ended in 2022, and the plants were transferred to the Public Health Department, after which most plants became non-functional.
An official from the Public Health Department explains the reason: “The department’s total budget is Rs 500 million, of which Rs 240 million is spent on salaries. With the remaining amount, only about 50 plants can be restored with difficulty, because restoring a small plant costs between Rs 1.5 to 2 million.”
Saleem Baloch, Special Assistant to the Sindh Government for Public Health Engineering, recently visited Tharparkar and acknowledged this crisis. “We have 832 RO plants in Thar, and it’s not possible to personally inspect all of them, but I have visited several plants. According to the team’s report, approximately half of the plants are functional and half are non-operational. Based on this, we have suspended the relevant executive engineer,” he told reporters.
Filtration plants shut due to lack of maintenance
Local political and social activist advocate Dayal Sahrai links this issue to corruption.
“Multinational companies come here and experiment on Tharparkar,” he says. “Initially, a plan was made for over 700 RO plants, but only about 400 were installed, and often in the wrong locations. Landlords and influential individuals had plants installed in their areas, while genuinely needy villages were left deprived. The plants that were installed have shut down due to lack of proper maintenance.”
Sahrai also offers solutions. “The government should restore these plants and involve local people, so that this project can succeed,” he says.
Even today, the residents of Tharparkar are yearning for water—a basic necessity. As the effects of climate change grow and temperatures rise, this water shortage is becoming increasingly severe. If the government and relevant institutions do not take serious and immediate measures to solve this crisis, it could cause human catastrophe in the coming years.
Who understands the value of water better than people like Seeta, Mano, and Irfan?
Their story serves as a powerful counterpoint to today’s global celebrations of World Water Day—a reminder that for many, water isn’t just a resource to be managed but a matter of daily survival threatened by human failings rather than natural scarcity.