KARACHI: Drought is likely to sweep through the country’s southern region and threaten the agriculture and livestock in Sindh, Balochistan provinces and Cholistan, the Met Office said on Friday.

The dry conditions that emerged from the second ever lowest rainfall in August this year over the past six decades is also feared to cause water stress for the Rabi crops in these areas, it said.

“August 2023 was the second driest month in Pakistan in the last 63 years as -65.9 percent below normal rainfall was recorded in the country,” it said, adding that Sindh and Balochistan saw the highest rain deficit over the month.

Usually, Sindh highly relies on monsoon season from July to September every year, which contributes nearly 80 percent to its annual rains, it said.

The Met pointed at the low rainfall and higher temperature as jointly responsible for water shortage in such areas, which have begun to affect vegetation and livestock there.

The below-normal rainfall in August 2023 has left several districts in Sindh, Balochistan and the Cholistan region with abnormally dry conditions.

Districts such as Umerkot, Tharparkar and Sanghar, Dadu, Jamshoro, Khairpur, Shahdadkot and Shaheed Benazirabad in Sindh are facing a mild drought.

Similarly, Chagi, Gwadar, Harnai, Kech, Kharan, Mastung, Nushki, Pishin, Panjgur, Qila Abdullah, Quetta and WashuK districts in central and southern Balochistan are braving the dry condition, besides Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan in Cholistan.

Traditionally, Sindh, Balochistan and Cholistan go through dry weather conditions between October and December every year, the Met said, citing the climatological normal from 1981 to 2010.

It encouraged the stakeholders for a judicious use of water with pre-emptive measures in the disaster prone districts and asked the farmers to stay updated with its website about the weather conditions.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2023