MET office warns of reemergence of drought

The head of Pakistan's meteorological department warned on Thursday that drought conditions were again emerging in the country owing to lower than expected monsoon rains.

Chaudhry Qamaruz Zaman told IRIN in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, that drought was most likely to grip the southern Sindh and southwestern Baluchistan province of the country.

"Sindh, Baluchistan and some other parts of the country are under stress, largely because of below normal rains," he explained, adding that the crisis could become severe because the underground water levels had also fallen sharply. "It has gone down by 10 to 25 feet in just six months," he noted.

But the problem of water shortages in Pakistan has been long running as the nation grapples with the after effects of a three-year drought. In the southern city of Karachi, some four million people were left without access to drinking water while hundreds of thousands acres of farmland across the country remained parched with little or no rain in three to four years.

Zaman explained that the strong monsoon front never reached Pakistani areas so far because of the El-Nino phenomenon taking hold earlier then expected. "Though at initial stages, it [Al-Nino] has started affecting our rains."

However, according to the MET office forecast some improvement in monsoon rains was expected from next week as a heavy front was developing in India from where it was expected to reach Pakistan as well. "However, this is just a forecast," Zaman cautioned.

Meanwhile, Pakistani government officials say that water levels at the country's two main reservoirs were good because of a timely snowmelt. "The present position in the dams is very encouraging," a water and power ministry official said.

According to the official data, water level at Mangla Dam in Punjab province was 1197.75 feet on Thursday. The maximum level is 1202 feet. The Mangla dam, located 100 km southeast of Islamabad, is a main supplier of water for agricultural use in the Punjab province.

Similarly at the Tarbela Dam, 60 km northwest of the capital in the North West Frontier Province, water level was 1497.95 feet, close to its maximum level.

However, Zaman said despite a good position of water in the two largest dams of the country it was important for the farming community to start conserving water. "We are in a dry cycle of the climate. Such cycles continue for 20 to 25 years," he explained.