Dried rivers, failing crops and dead cattle forced them to leave. And this year's blistering summer multiplies their fears. There has been no rain in western India, southern Pakistan and southwestern Afghanistan since 1998. The drought has caused wells, rivers and other traditional sources of water to dry. Although it is still early summer, an unusually excessive heat has made things worse.
People are on the move.
The government in the southern Balochistan province says it is facing a severe crisis of food and water in 22 out of its 26 districts and has sought help from the federal government in Islamabad. Balochistan governor Amirul Mulk Mengal says that if the drought continues, the remaining three districts may also run out of supplies soon. The Pakistan government insists that so far no one has died of famine but aid workers present a different picture. They say that scores of people have already died in parts of Balochistan and the Tharparkar district of another southern province of Sindh. There may have been a few deaths due to excessive heat, but nobody starved to death.