Drought effects severe in Balochistan

The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported on 31 August that the provinces of Balochistan and Sindh had been hard hit by the severe drought in Central Asia. The report stated that Sindh, however, had benefited from monsoon rains in July and August while large parts of central and western Balochistan had received no rains at all. In addition to killing the rain-fed wheat crops and seriously affecting irrigated acreage, the drought had killed some two million livestock, undermining the pastoral economy of the province. The report added that if Balochistan did not get suficient rainfall in November and December, then the combination of drought and poor water resource management threatened losses in life, assets and the environment.