There are four deserts in Pakistan. (i) Thal (ii) Thar (iii) Cholistan (iv) Kharan
“Thar and my heart are the two names of the same desert”, once wrote Mazhar-ul-Islam, the world-renowned short story writer and pioneer of a new school of short story in Urdu, Pakistan’s national language. He belongs to Punjab province, writes in Urdu, and most of his admirers belong to Sindh province of which Tharparkar district is one of the major parts with a total area of 28,170 sq. k.m.
Times back, there was a sea where the Thar is now. The geologists believe that the sea turned to a desert because of some big earthquake and stormy winds created sand dunes. But, the wrinkled-faces of old folks of Thar are there to tell the travelers a centuries old tale of a Rishi (worshiper) who’s buddua (asking something from god against someone) turned the sea dry.
Topography:
Tharparkar consists of two words, Thar means ‘desert’ while Parkar stands for ‘the other side’. Years back, it was known as Thar and Parkar but subsequently became just one word ‘Tharparkar’ for the two distinct parts of Sindh province. On the western side, Parkar is the irrigated area whereas Thar, the eastern part, is known as the largest desert of Pakistan with a rich multifaceted culture, heritage, traditions, folk tales, dances and music due to its inhabitants who belong to different religions, sects and casts. The Parkar area has been formed by the alluvial deposits of river Indus while Thar mostly consists of barren tracts of sand dunes covered with thorny bushes. The only hills of the district, named Karon-Jhar, are in the extreme south-east corner of Nagar Parkar Taluka, a part of Thar. These hills are spread over about 20 kilometers in length and attains a height of 300 meters. Covered with sparse jungle and pasturage, they give rise to two perennial springs as well as streams caused after rain.
Climate:
The Thar area has a tropical desert climate. The months of April, May and June are the hottest ones during the day. The average maximum and minimum temperatures during this period remain 41 centigrade to 24 centigrade respectively while December, January and February are the comparatively coldest months with average maximum and minimum temperatures 28 centigrade to 9 centigrade respectively. Rainfall varies from year to year. Most of the rain falls in the monsoon months between June and September whereas the winter rains are insignificant.
Water and housing in the desert:
The rains play a vital role in the life of all parts of Thar as the water deposits in tobas (small ponds) are used for drinking, washing and other purposes. These tobas are the only source of water for animals and human in most of the desert area. Just for this reason, major portion of the population lives like gypsies. When a toba comes to dry, they move to the next destination around the water-filled toba. The human settlements are mostly found near the Karon-Jhar hills where two seasonal streams flow but not in all the seasons. The underground water is rarely found in Thar desert. If luckily found, after digging a very deep well, it comes out quite sour and putrid. Simply undrinkable. Sometimes fortune do knock the doors of the Thar inhabitants, when sweet water comes out of a very deeply dug well. Then the housing units start increasing around that well. Digging the well is not so easy a number of times, it claims the lives of the well-diggers. According to 1980 housing census, there were 241,326 housing units of one or two very small rooms. The degree of crowding was six persons per housing unit and three persons per room.