Rain brings some relief to NWFP

Heavy rains brought much needed relief to Pakistan’s North West Frontier Province (NWFP) on Tuesday and Wednesday. The Pakistani daily ‘The News’ on Thursday reported 26 mm of rain in northwestern Peshawar. Like other parts of Pakistan, NWFP has witnessed a dry spell since last year, with a rainless monsoon, resulting in higher temperatures than normal. Farmers heaved a sigh of relief over the long-awaited rain. The lack of adequate rain is expected to result in at least a 30 percent drop in agricultural production in the province, the report said. One farmer, Haydar Zaman, said: “These rains will not be of much help to the crops. Neither produce nor yield of crops will be increased, because the rains have come late.” He said these would at least save wheat crops from complete failure and sustain them, the report added.

Qazi Azmat Isa, a World Bank community development specialist, told IRIN that in the context of a regional drought, the recent rainfall would “only lead to greater complacency” in addressing the national water crisis. He maintained that the country needed to go on a “war footing” to counter severe water shortages in the southern provinces of Baluchistan and Sind.