waterwoes
Combating water scarcity in Thar
A pilot rainwater harvesting project has given hope to desert villages
By Aroosa Masroor
Like every year, residents of village DedSarh -- located 40 km south from Mithi city in district Tharparkar --impatiently await the monsoons at this time of the year. However, this time the rising mercury coupled with water scarcity in the region are not the only reasons behind their desperation. This year the villagers are eager to check the feasibility of their low-cost rainwater harvesting pilot project that they have been working on for the past few months.

'Kill’, 'shoot’ and 'destroy’ were words unheard of in a child’s vocabulary till a decade ago. Today they are an integral part of their communication – thanks to violent cartoons and video games. As if this is not enough, most also end up watching news related to violence in the city (and in the country) on television channels with their parents.

Unfortunately, monitoring and supervision by parents is missing in this regard in most cases, which adversely affects children.

Early on in their lives, children are overloaded with information, which they involuntarily absorb. So it is no surprise that children imitate their favourite TV/video game characters, even if that means exhibiting aggression. They learn that violence doesn’t really hurt others and are unable to discriminate between what is real and what isn’t. As a result, most children grow addicted to such content, particularly action-packed sequences in both movies and games.

"My daily schedule at work is quite hectic and challenging that it is nearly impossible for me and my wife, who helps me during the day, to monitor our two kids when they are watching television," says a parent Kashif Munir, confiding that he recently bought a few action movies for his children that they had been longing for months. "When the kids spend time watching movies, we actually get some time to rest and plan our activities for the next day."

When Kolachi inquired if the impact of violent content in action flicks worries him, Munir says he has no option as growing insecurity in the city has confined his children to indoor activities, which mostly includes viewing television. "Yes, movies do influence and a behaviour change in apparent, but as parents we also counsel them and remind them of their limits," he defends.

Dwelling on the subject, Professor Dr Haroon Ahmad, President of the Pakistan Association of Mental Health (PAMH) and a well-known psychiatrist, told Kolachi that the society has become much more violent today as have children. "By playing video games constantly, they consider themselves to be part of a virtual world where emotions and feelings have no value. So, if they encounter such a situation in their lives, they tend to thoroughly enjoy it," he says.

It is due to this perception young people are becoming desensitised to violence. So much so that discussing the occurrence of a bomb blast in the country has become the norm for school-going children. A parent, who did not wish to be named, told Kolachi that she felt residing in a joint-family system has a part to play as well. Her eldest son, aged 11, is not only interested in violent video games, but has also developed a keen interest in watching news channels as other elders in the family do. It is difficult to place restrictions when other elders in the family refuse to understand how violent content can leave a negative effect on a child, she says.

"We recently received three consistent complaints from my son’s school that he regularly discusses stories of bomb blasts with his class mates and that such discussions were affecting his class participation as well. That, for us, was a wake up call and we tried to limit his viewership."

The mother added although his behaviour in class has improved, she constantly monitors his activities and hobbies. "I go with him every time he wants to shop for new game CDs and encourage him to buy games related to sports such as NBA and Cricket 2009 rather than violent ones like WWE Raw and GTA," she adds.

Dr Ahmad pointed out that this violence is not limited to video games and cartoons, but some commercials [of soft drinks] endorse the same where the sole purpose is to create excitement through dangerous stunts. This needs to be checked as well, he believes.

A Speech Language Pathologist, Sadaf Shahid, further highlighted cases where children were affected by the content they watch. One particular case was that of nine-year-old Ali Ahmed*, who lives with his mother, Farzana. Since Farzana is a single parent, she works full-time and is unable to spend time with Ahmed. Thus, TV acts as a babysitter in Ahmed’s case – he watches about six-seven hours of TV every day.

Consequently, adds Shahid, Ali has picked up the inappropriate language often used in cartoons and movies. "Hey! Mind your own business" and "don’t you dare point your finger at me" are a few such examples of the kind of language that Ali is prone to using. Such children, Shahid explains, do not perform well in class nor are they motivated by their teachers. They suffer from behavioural problems and their language development is weak.

Furthermore, they threaten and bully other children in school and resort to attention-seeking tactics to make others laugh. At home, they are under constant pressure from family.

Also, excessive playing of video games and advancing to different stages gives children confidence. So they try and play as much of the game as they can. In fact, studies show that boys who like watching action movies and footage of violence on news channels are likely to be interested in playing games based on wrestling and mafia wars. On the other hand, girls who are addicted to TV prefer to watch Indian soaps and teen movies. In some cases, such girls were found to be keenly interested in attending wedding functions, taking care of themselves and the way they look, and were particular about their clothes. They also started questioning their parents, out of curiosity, how and why people get divorced.

Experts point out that in such cases, parents spending 'quality time’ with their children often works wonders. Parents should encourage their children to participate in physical activity and should arrange for resources so that their child gets involved in sports, and interacts with friends. Even if they are letting children watch television, the content should be monitored and restrictions placed on the amount of 'TV time’. Parents should engage them in constructive activities which would also help them in studies.

Meanwhile, apart from having a negative impact on a child’s behaviour, viewing too much television has resulted in an increased rate of children with weak eyesight at a young age. Dr Idrees Adhi, Chairman of the Ophthalmology Department at the Dow University of Health Sciences (DUHS) and the Eye Department of the Civil Hospital Karachi (CHK), told Kolachi that watching TV for an extend period of time from short distances can greatly affect a child’s eyesight. Often, teachers are unable to detect whether or not a child suffers from weak eyesight, mainly because both public and private schools have no testing facilities for the purpose. Unfortunately, he said, that "no figures are available regarding the number of children suffering from weak eyesight so prescribing treatment is a bit difficult."

Adhi pointed out that on an average, the Eye Department at CHK examines about 1,500 kids (who are 15 years or less) per month. He said that it is difficult to say how many of these children have weak eyesight because of extensive TV watching, but confirmed that their number has increased over the years.

Whether we like it or not, the fact remains that many parents find TV and video games to be a convenient baby sitter, especially if both of them are working. While it is difficult to find the time to spend one’s child or even arrange for a reliable baby sitter, parents must understand that they are responsible for the well being of their child and they must do what it takes to fulfill that responsibility

Most days, Karachiites wish for just one thing -- to live without the fear of violence or acts of terrorism. However, this wish remains far from being fulfilled since violence and paranoia is the order of the day in the city, thus causing feelings of despair among the people. Unfortunately, children are also affected by this unsettling environment, manifested in several ways. 

For starters, whenever there is unrest in the city, parents switch on the TV to get news updates. Since children are keen observers, they are quick to realise that something is not right. This feeling is exacerbated by the explicit images and live TV broadcasts that show injured people and gun-toting miscreants. Studies show that children who view live coverage of violent activities on TV are prone to exhibiting aggressive behaviour and get angry easily. For example, Dr Amin A Gadit, in his article writes that the "media must consider the negative ramifications of showing violence to children’s mental health. It has now been scientifically established that unprocessed and disintegrated memories of childhood trauma could affect an individual in adulthood, causing immense suffering. Moreover, this could also result in such an adult posing a threat to society." Kolachi spoke to several citizens who concurred with this view given the present conditions of the city. Mrs Farhat, for example, who lives in a sensitive area of the city, said that "it is very difficult for me to make my eight-year-old son understand that because of the conditions outside, it is not safe for him to play football in the ground nearby." She added that her son gets agitated because he does not understand the situation. "He wants to know why this is happening and why he must suffer because of such people," she explained.

Similarly, during the April 29 violence in the city, a number of factory workers and labourers, who survive on daily wages, were unable to get food for their families. Many housemaids told Kolachi that their salaries were deducted when they finally went to work on May 2. As a result of this, they had to suffer the whole month since a pay cut for them means less food on the table. "The whole month I quarreled with my husband because money was tight," said one such maid. Reports indicate that children of such parents are prone to being short-tempered, and become disruptive and unruly.  

Depending on the nature of anger, such children can also suffer from Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD). This is characterised by a disorganised lifestyle, meaning an inability to keep things in order. Not only this but also they are unable to find their things; nor are they able to answer a question (asked by their teachers) because they are prone to forgetting facts. 

Thus, it is important to deal with their rage issues. An angry child is likely to be disruptive and belligerent once he turns into an adult. In this regard, the American Academy of Pediatrics recommends parents to keep their children, who are three years old or younger, from watching television or playing computer games. Parents should keep in mind that unlimited exposure to the media increases hyperactivity among pre-school kids.

Since anger is a dominant emotion in these children, it is important to be patient with them. For example, an ADHD-affected child may get angry if he finds that he is unable to finish his homework. "The teacher should encourage questions related to homework and parents too should spare some time from their busy schedules to help the child complete his homework," suggested one educator. Also, there should be a proper place for homework -- preferably a quiet corner with no computer or television nearby.

Furthermore, parents should avoid having discussions about domestic problems in front of their children – their anxieties trigger a child’s anger. According to one psychologist, a child is unable to understand the reasons behind his parent’s frustrations and this feeling of helplessness finally turns into rage.

Experts also do not recommend the denial of terrorist activities in the city – which parents are inclined to do in a bid to protect their children. In case of an act of terrorism in the neighbourhood, it is advisable to explain a child what exactly is happening rather than evading their questions. It is the parents’ responsibility to give the child their support and make him feel secure. The inability to do so can lead to agoraphobia – a morbid fear of open spaces.

Finally, to evoke love for the city, parents should encourage them to take up hobbies such as gardening. Schools can arrange for city beautification programmes to ensure a child’s involvement. It is important to choose activities that will convert the child’s destructive energy into something constructive. Drawing, painting and crafts are some other things that a child can engage in.

In all of this, patience is the key to success. It is easy to get frustrated when results are not apparent right away but it is important to remember that dealing with such children takes time and energy – a small price to pay for a child’s future.   

Nafeesa Jamal, 54, housewife: "No, I don’t let them. In fact, I ask them to change the channel when a violent footage is on air."

Ayesha Asim, 29, teacher: "Yes they do because I don’t want to impose anything on them. If there is something I am watching and they are around, I can’t ask them to close their eyes or go to their rooms. It will make them more curious."  

Sofia Tahir, 42, businesswoman: "I avoid viewing violent content myself so permitting my children to watch the same is next to impossible." 

Tabassum Qamar, 42, housewife: "Yes they do. I allow them to because children need to know what the reality is and what is happening around them. It prepares them for a similar situation if (god forbid) they were to experience the same. They should be aware."

Maryam Faisal, 29, psychologist: "Yes if there is news related to violence in the city, I do watch it and so does my child. But it also depends on the intensity. If I feel the violent content may not be appropriate for my child then I don’t."

Remembering a legend:

If one looks at organized peasant movements of Pakistan, the names of Haider Bux Jatoi and the Sindh Haari Tehrik immediately come to mind. This is because there have been very few peasant movements in Pakistan which originated in the midst of the peasantry. There are several reasons for this, including the fact that the landless peasantry is bonded to landowners via debts; the tribal relationship of Haaris (landless peasants) with the Zamindaars (landowners); the fear of the law and the police inculcated in the minds of the Haaris by the landowners; the lack of security for Haaris; and the tyrannical ability of the Zamindaar to kick Haaris out of their lands whenever they wish.

1920s: A Tehrik is born

The most recent Haari Tehrik (movement) in Sindh -- one that Haider Bux Jatoi eventually became associated with -- began in the form of the Kissan (peasant) Bureau in the 1920s in order to empower peasants to demand their rights. Several events in the 1920s, including the increasing trend of landlords taking over disputed land illegally, further fanned this nascent movement.

These events led to a number of urban intellectuals to eventually form the Sindh Haari Committee. The formation of the Committee was formally announced in 1930 in a programme organized in Tando Jam. Perhaps as a reflection of the times, only one of the founding members of the Committee was the son of a Haari. Two members were connected to agriculture in some form or the other. All the remaining founding members of the committee were either traders or college teachers. The platform brought together a group of varied individuals -- some were anti-imperialists, some were against landlordism, while others believed in human rights and liberty. Even though these seem like three separate ideologies, but put together, they also form the basis of one universal ideology.

The Sindh Haari Committee presented a three-point agenda to the public: improve the agricultural sector by empowering peasants; ownership rights for Haaris who have tilled a specific piece of land for a given period of time; the allotment of government land near a barrage to Haaris after 1932. The "Haari Haqdar" movement was then put in motion to push these demands forward. Even though these demands were "soft" -- not revolutionary by any stretch of the imagination -- but the long-term purpose of the movement was to force landowners to give basic rights to the peasants.

The movement eventually started to take hold in Hyderabad and the surrounding areas. Small cells were set up in villages, and leaders of the movement began to inculcate revolutionary ideas and ideals in the peasantry in order to release them from the decades-old shackles of mental servitude. Simple conditions were set forth for membership to the Committee: anyone who stood against feudalism and landlordism could become a member of the Sindh Haari Committee by paying a fee of one Aana.

Between 1930 and 1935, the activities of the Sindh Haari Committee spread to demonstrations and protests by groups in villages and even in Hyderabad city. Eventually, the rights of inheritance were accorded for disputed land on account of the protests organised by the Committee.

The victories in Hyderabad further encouraged the Committee, and its activities spread to Nawabshah (now Benazirabad), Sanghar, and Larkana. The leaders, workers and members of the Committee dedicated their time, efforts, and resources to the movement, and eventually convinced small groups of Haaris to agree to commit their participation in protests and demonstrations in order to demand their rights.

1936: Enter Haider Bux Jatoi

As the movement grew, a need was felt to set up a central office for the Sindh Haari Committee. In 1936, a Muslim officer in Hyderabad donated a portion of his building to the Committee and allowed them to set up an office there. The name of this officer was Haider Bux Jatoi. This unconditional support of his to the Committee proved invaluable.

Meanwhile, the Sindh Haari Committee leadership began to feel the need for peasant leaders in the movement in order to take things forward. Thus Abdul Qadir Khan, the son of a peasant, was elected as the president of the Committee. This move infused revolutionary zeal into the movement, and greater numbers of peasants began to obtain memberships in the Committee and become part of the movement.

1940s: The movement enters the political stage

In the meantime, the All-India Kissan Sabha was formed, which approved of the Sindh Haari Committee. Similarly, the All-India Congress Party also supported the Committee as part of its Independence Movement. The alliance with the Congress Party propelled the Committee into mainstream politics, and allowed it to exert greater pressure on the government.

The Sindh Haari Committee utilised this opportunity, and organised a massive political gathering in Tando Adam, in collaboration with the Congress. Another event which is important in the history of the Sindh Haari Committee is the organisation of a Kissan Rally in 1943. As many as 3,000 peasants participated in the rally to demand reforms for the rights of Haaris. The rally proved that the Sindh Haari Committee could not only organise Haaris, but could also mobilise them for their rights.

This rally put immense pressure on the government at a time when it was already busy dealing with the Independence Movement. More alarming for the rulers was the fact that this pressure came from the generally-silent and most marginalised quarters of society -- the landless peasantry.

News of the Committee’s activities reached the Sindh Assembly, and in 1943, for the first time since Sindh came under Colonial rule, the demands and complaints of the Haaris were declared legitimate.

1945: Haider Bux Jatoi appointed as Sindh Haari Committee secretary

In 1945, Haider Bux Jatoi resigned from his lucrative positions in the Colonial government and was appointed as the secretary of the Sindh Haari Committee. He took the message of the Committee beyond the "Haari Haqdar" slogans. He introduced new and revolutionary slogans into the movement, including "land for the landless," and Sufi Shah Inayat Shaheed’s "the produce belongs to the tiller."

Jatoi brought in revolutionary tactics into the Committee. He regularised protests and demonstrations. This helped remove the fear of landlords from the hearts and minds of the Haaris, and infused revolutionary fervour into them. As a result, Committee members began taking away their shares from the harvests they produced, and left behind meagre portions for their landlords. This act was the equivalent of snatching a morsel from a lion’s mouth, and was the most visible practical resistance in the history of the movement.

Meanwhile, Jatoi started publishing a weekly newspaper called "Haari Haqdar," which eventually became an important method of communication for other Committee leaders as well.

Under Jatoi’s leadership, the call of the Sindh Haari Committee had reached almost every district of Sindh by 1947-48, while its centres of power were Hyderabad, Nawabshah, Sanghar and Larkana. This was a major achievement primarily due to the fact that organising the peasantry is no easy task. Not only are rural populations spread over a large area, with lots of distance between habitations, but the Committee also had to work to break the fear of landlords which had, over centuries, become part of the psyche of the landless peasantry, or the peasant proletariat. The Committee achieved this and more, and by 1947-48, it had more than 160,000 registered members.

In order to expand the circumference of the movement, "village committees" were formed under the umbrella of the Sindh Haari Committee, thus ensuring that the latter became an effective peasant movement instead of merely existing as a pressure group.

Such was the peasantry’s faith in the Committee, that Haaris would come up on stage during rallies and express specific grievances against their landlords -- a phenomenon which could not even have been imagined a few decades ago. Moreover, the Committee worked to inculcate political know-how into the peasantry, and educated them about larger issues as well, such as legal matters, and even military dictatorships.

1950: The Sindh Tenancy Act is approved

After the formation of Pakistan on August 14, 1947, the Sindh Haari Committee approached the Sindh Assembly to formulate agricultural laws. The Sindh Tenancy Act was finally approved in 1950, but not without a fight. As many as 15,000 Haaris marched on foot from various areas in rural Sindh, all the way to Karachi, and staged a sit-in in front of the Sindh Assembly building. Large contingents of Army personnel and the police had been called in by the government, ostensibly to prevent any untoward incidents. Throughout the entire march, however, not a single stone was cast by the Haaris -- their march started peacefully, and ended the same way, with the approval of the Tenancy Act. This was a major accomplishment for the Committee and for the peasant movement as a whole as well.

1958: The first Martial Law

Ayub Khan took over the reins of power in 1958, imposed Martial Law, and banned all political activities, including those of the Sindh Haari Committee. Several leaders of the Committee were jailed during this period, but were released soon after. The activities of the Committee, however, remained suspended. Jatoi was released from jail in 1967, and he called a meeting of the Committee soon after, where a number of resolutions were passed, including one in favour of agricultural reforms, and another against Ayub Khans "One Unit" formula.

Jatoi’s imprisonment, however, had been a major setback for the movement, primarily because of a lack of second-tier leadership in the Committee. Jatoi’s leadership skills had led to a speedy rise of the movement, but all decisions revolved around a single person. His imprisonment meant that the movement was left without effective leadership.

1969: The second Martial Law

After the second Martial Law in 1969, the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) rose as a solid force in West Pakistan. It attracted the poor and downtrodden with seemingly attractive slogans of "Roti, Kapra, Makaan" and Socialism. Like many others, several members and leaders of the Sindh Haari Committee fell under this spell as well, and abandoned the Committee to join the PPP in search of a "shortcut to liberation". This led to a further deterioration of the movement.

1970: End of an era

With the demise of Haider Bux Jatoi on May 21, 1970, the future of the Haaris was on the shoulders of an organisation whose structure continued to weaken with time.

Thirty-nine years after Jatoi’s death, the landless peasantry faces more oppression than ever before at the hands of landlords and even elements within the government and the State, and awaits not just one Haider Bux Jatoi, but several others like him.

Like every year, residents of village DedSarh -- located 40 km south from Mithi city in district Tharparkar --impatiently await the monsoons at this time of the year. However, this time the rising mercury coupled with water scarcity in the region are not the only reasons behind their desperation. This year the villagers are eager to check the feasibility of their low-cost rainwater harvesting pilot project that they have been working on for the past few months.

Comprising approximately 100 households of both Muslims and Hindus, the village is dependent on groundwater and has seven water wells, but none contains sweet water. This compels women and children to walk up to two to three kilometres daily to fetch potable water from nearby villages.

Most villages in Thar are faced with a similar problem where groundwater is the only sustainable source of water for the people but its content is saline to brackish. The villagers have no choice but to consume this water, despite the fact that this high concentration of salts and minerals is dangerous for human and livestock.

"The system of tube-wells, hand pumps and wind mills were also introduced in Tharparkar but the schemes have not yet proven to be fully successful. This is why most villages are dependent on water wells," says Ashok Suthar, Executive Director Sukaar Foundation Trust, a local non-profit organisation working on water, sanitation and hygiene education for the past five years.

Water quality not a priority for villagers

Since groundwater is the only source of water, most villagers are not concerned about quality, he adds. Forty-five-year-old Aamnat Abdullah is one such resident of DedSarh whose day starts at dawn when she milks the cow and then spends the next four to six hours fetching 90 to 100 litres of water. "In a desert where water is scarce, how can you expect us to complain about its quality," she asks.

Aamnat is a mother of nine and is expecting her tenth child, yet does not frown over the thought of walking in the heat of the desert to fetch water. "God gives us this strength," she says pointing towards the sky. With her companions from the village, Aamnat makes several rounds in a day to two different wells. "For drinking, we walk two kilometres to the sweet water well in the nearby village and for washing clothes we walk to the brackish water well in our neighbourhood," she told Indus Watch.

Others have a similar story to tell. Most complain that fetching water leaves them with little time to socialise. Marriages in the village are mostly held in the day, but there have been times when some women in the family are unable to attend because they are pre occupied in fetching water. Moreover, families are unable to educate their children as it would deprive them of help at home, they say. The few children that are able to study are made to fetch water at night to compensate for their time of absence.

"The village also has a natural depression of rainwater conservation (locally known as Tarai), up to 200-feet-long and 150-feet-wide with a depth of three feet. This Tarai can hold up to 2,531,250 litres of water," informs Allah Bachiao, representative of the DedSarh village development organisation. "But considering the fact that Thar is a desert, extensive evaporation and seepage results in loss of water and it cannot be conserved for more than three months at the most."

In the area is another seven-foot-deep pond built by SAZDA (Sindh Arid Zone Development Authority) in 1990 with a capacity of 236,000 litres, but the pond is cracked and can only conserve water for a few days. "Even if it is repaired, the water will only last a few weeks and people will end up roaming from one village to another in search of water for the rest of the year," adds Bachiao.

These problems faced by villagers led SFT to introduce the two pilot rainwater harvesting projects that villagers have set their eyes on.

From roof to underground

The first pilot project of 'piped roof water harvesting’ focuses on improving the traditional practice of harvesting rainwater down the roof through utensils that is manually poured into the underground water tanks. "Since the roofs are muddy and made up of a mixture of clay and cow dung, it makes the rainwater unhygienic. Our model emphasizes on using a mixture of cement, varnish, twist and wool/hair of goats to plaster the house roof that is then connected with the ground water tanks through cemented pipes," explains Qamar Shah, an official of SFT during a visit to one of the 30 model houses that have been developed in the village. "This would not only make the roof durable, but the water hygienic too."

Although some 40 per cent households depended on rainwater harvesting earlier as well, they were hardly able to store water for more than three to six months (in their underground water tanks) once the rains ended due to lack of technical expertise in the area.

The second model of the NGO, however, offers a bigger and better solution. A site in DedSarh village has been dug and seven cone-shaped underground water tanks (known as Chonra and Nadi ponds) have been built of different capacities that will cater to the needs of five neighbouring villages. Five of these tanks will store up 30,000 litres of water each, one up to 40,000 litres and the seventh tank has a capacity of 60,000 litres. Each of these tanks is connected through a hand to facilitate the people.

Village to be 'water-secure’ for a year

The SFT aims to upgrade the Tarai and the SAZDA pond as well. It is believed that these projects will help to solve the safe drinking water needs of all 100 households for up to nine months after rains. And if the monsoon continues up to three months the village will be 'water-secure’ for a whole year.

When questioned about the role of the government, Suthar said instead of investing in methods to purify the saline waters or invest in rainwater harvesting, they (government) are still focusing their efforts of extracting ground water, which would not be environment-friendly at this point.

Considering the amount of wells that have been dug in Tharparkar, the groundwater is depleting up to 1 foot annually and results in the reduction of soil moisture, he explains. This is negatively affecting the desert vegetation and leading to gradual deforestation.

Keeping in mind all these shortcomings, most local activists believe that SFT’s covered rainwater harvesting project would provide the much-needed solution to the water problems of this desert.

However, adds Suthar, it is the success of these projects that will help determine the government’s willingness. "So far the local government has assured that if the pilot is a success, they will support the move to replicate the model in other villages and sign an MoU with union councils to assist us. We now await the rainfall this year with our fingers crossed."