Rubbing salt into the wounds of parched Tharis

HYDERABAD: Mahro Bheel, a farmer-turned labourer from village Chhahi Chhapro, Deeplo Taluka, Tharparkar collects salt from a nearby lake for a living that is too little for his family to even sweeten their cups of tea and glasses of milk.

There are scattered salt lakes near the desert villages where contractors hire workforce at cheap wages and the poor workers perform jobs in difficult conditions to earn a little to feed their families.

“There are around 50 workers at the same salt lake, working for 10-12 hours and receiving Rs400-500 daily,” said Mahro Bheel.

He showed simmering wounds on his hands, feet, and legs, saying working conditions were tough and could not afford protection measures like gloves and shoes to avoid these injuries.

These salt lakes are known after nearby desert villages where workers collect the raw product for refining in factories in Karachi and other major cities.

Local people also collect this raw salt to use in food items for their own consumption.

The workers said there was a natural phenomenon that after heavy rainfall all the lakes filled up with water and the salt appears on the surface. They use basic tools to collect the salt without adopting precautionary measures for safety.

Narain Bheel, another worker in the same village said almost all families that owned small pieces of land were dependent on rain for cultivation.

He said this year too they hired tractors for cultivation and sowed traditional crops, while receiving the first shower in June, but unfortunately they could not receive any more showers to save their crops.

“In this situation, they are preparing to migrate to canal areas in October end or November to work as rice harvesters and sugarcane peelers,” Narain Bheel said.

Traditionally livestock fully contributes to the economy of Tha,r where more than 70 percent of the people depend on rain-fed agriculture and livestock rearing.

Talking about the wages, he said they would receive 2-2.5 maund (40kg) per acre for harvesting and threshing wheat. He said for picking cotton they would get merely Rs300-400 per 40kg, instead of Rs500-600, and Rs15-20 for peeling a maund of sugarcane.

But, he said the rice crop harvesting was quite a difficult task in which they would receive one bag of rice after threshing and packing 12 bags.

He said now all the families despite poverty were preparing to celebrate Thadhri festival as per Hindu calendar, and might leave their abodes soon.

Elderly Bhooro Bheel said he went to harvest wheat this year in Nawabshah and Matiari districts with his sons and returned during the monsoon season.

Recalling the happy days of the past, he said each family in the desert areas used to keep two- three camels for multiple purposes like cultivating lands and traveling to sell their products and purchase essential items from nearby towns. In the past they never hired vehicles and used camels to travel long distances.

“Parents used to buy camels and build traditional makeshift huts for their sons before their weddings,” he said adding, “Gone are those days and hardly a few families can now afford to keep old customs alive”.

“The farmers hire tractors for cultivation instead of using traditional sources, animals.”

He said this year the majority of families having pieces of lands and cattle heads could not migrate for picking cotton and chilli earlier, because they were expecting more rains for their own crops and grasses for their animals.

Bhooro Bheel said they missed those jobs and now were expected to leave here by October end or November to resume sugarcane peeling and harvesting rice as both the crops would be ready at the time.

It is a common understanding among local people that every third year brings dryness and drought-like conditions. The people face famine at least twice a decade.

Locals are still waiting to receive any relief package from the government. Last time the provincial government declared Thar as a calamity-hit area and sent food and other supplies for humans and fodder for animals. This time they seem least bothered to even notice the plight of the poor Tharis, which was like rubbing salt deep into their wounds.