Cholistan: Severe heat wave impacts vegetation, water resources, livestock

LAHORE: Severe heat wave has impacted the vegetation, water resources and most importantly the livestock in the Cholistan region, said sources from Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD).

According to sources, the severe heat wave had also triggered the evapotranspiration by 1.5 mm/day to 3.5 mm/day, which impacted the soil moisture, water table/resources and vegetation in the region.

They said the high temperature had also caused heat stress which affected livestock mortality. Furthermore, they added, high variation in the daily diurnal temperature increased the probability of high mortality in grazing cattle.

PMD sources have further pointed out that the heat wave has also enhanced the probability of the drought emergence in the Cholistan region.

Director PMD Shahid Abbas pointed out that the ongoing attention of the government agencies towards the area has brought the severity of loss down in the Cholistan region. Also, he said, a number of non-government organisations have become active to help out the residents of the region, which has also played the due role in controlling the situation.

It may be noted that a number of NGOs have displayed banners in the city, urging the citizens to contribute financially to bring the Cholistan region out of the severity.

The banners under the tag of “Cholistan Emergency Relief” have displayed rates of cooked rice, water tanks, taps and essential foods for the citizens. Also, Alkhidmat Foundation of Jamat-e-Islami was active in supplying essential goods to the residents of the region and head of the party has also visited the area recently.

The catastrophe caused by the severe heat wave in Cholistan had impacted the water reservoirs, vegetation and livestock badly. Due to abnormal increases in daily maximum temperature, the heat stress situations had arisen in the region.

The Cholistan comprises three districts, namely Bahawalnagar, Bahawalpur, and Rahim Yar Khan. The total area of Cholistan is 6,655,360 acres and the largest area of Cholistan is present in Bahawalpur, which is 4,028,217 acres. The length of Cholistan is 480 km and the width ranges from 32 to 192 km. The human population of Cholistan is 155,000 whereas the livestock population is 1,318,000 while the livestock is mostly consisting of camels, sheep, goats and Cholistani Cattle.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022