More than 8.4 million cubic meter water sources are generated for drinking purpose of 0.1 million human and 2.0 million livestock population in Cholistan, according to a report launched by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR), on Friday.
As the annual drinking water requirement in the region is estimated to be 9.0 million cubic meter,so to mitigate the impacts of drought scarcity of water in Cholistan, a network of water resources has been established, covering 26,000 sq.km.
For this purpose,92 rainwater storage reservoirs, on scientific lines with storage capacity of 15000 cubic meters (4.0 million gallons) have been designed which have negligible seepage and comparatively low evaporation.
Talking to APP, Spokesperson PCRWR, Lubna Naheed said,20 specially designed deep tubewells were developed on sites, where groundwater is suitable for drinking in the desert (each with discharge of 1.0 cusec), making total annual discharge more than 7.0 million cubic meter.
Besides this, she said 2 reverse osmosis plants have been installed 1st of their kind to desalinize highly saline groundwater in the Cholistan, with desalination capacity of 0.01 million cubic meters annually.
About agriculture scope in Cholistan, the spokesperson said about 300 acres have been brought under decertification control activities to halt and reverse decertification in Cholistan for sustainable land management.
According to data available, 55 acres barren sand dune land has been fixed and stabilized by erecting micro-barrier fences in the checkerboard form, prior to plantation.
Furthermore, 50 acres of land has been brought under plantation of various tree species i.e. acacia, zizyphus, prosopis, parkinsonia, ampliceps to control decertification and produce timber, fuel wood and to protect good agricultural and rangelands against wind erosion.
The orchard plantation of grafted zizyphus and date palm has been carried out on about 50 acres of desert land, to produce fruit for income generation.
Besides this,about 50 acres of land has been developed for cultivation of fodder crops while 97 acres of natural degraded rangeland has been converted in to good rangeland.
Besides this,innovative water resources management activities have been introduced to overcome the water shortage in water scarce areas of Cholistan.
The water availability has been enhanced significantly by developing 12 water storage reservoirs, each with a capacity of 1000 cubic meters, to store canal water, when it is surplus in rainy season, for utilizing it for drinking purpose, during closure period of canals.
To a question about water situation in Tharparkar, the Spokesperson PCRWR said a field research station has been established on 200 acres of desert land at Khario Nara near Mithi, Tharparkar, to develop wiable techniques for rainwater harvesting, utilization of fresh and saline groundwater and decertification control activities.
Establishment of a field research station on 500 acres of land is in progress, she maintained.
