The Thar Parkar desert has an interesting geology. There are red granite hills with deep gorges which are home to a rich variety of flora and fauna. One of the trees found in the area is the Gugral tree, which is the tree that provides the resin from which incense is made. It is estimated that 70% of the trees have dried up due to criminal groups extracting its resin using poisonous chemicals to speed up the process of extraction so as to sell in greater quantities in the markets of the big cities.
There are springs associated with Hindu shrines, rituals and pilgrimages. Hindus and Muslims visit them in large numbers on special occasions. There are a number of Jain temples, some dating back to the 14th century, when the Jains were prominent in the area.
Nagar Parkar is a small town within a few kilometres of the Indian border. It is considered the homeland of the Parkari Kohlis, one of the many low caste Tribal Peoples to be found in Sindh. There is a parish centre in the town which has been administrated by Columbans since the mid-1980s. There are less than 100 Catholic families scattered over a large geographical area. For the most part Thar Parkar is an arid and semi-arid desert, where, underneath its sands massive amounts of coal have been found and large-scale mining is being planned.
The land is fertile when sufficient rains fall. Production of crops depends on the monsoon rains which should fall from mid-June to mid-August each year but for the last ten years there have been drought conditions in Thar Parkar. In 2014 it was estimated that 470 people died due to drought, mostly children. But that is only the official number. Along with human deaths there were thousands of livestock deaths, which are vital to the economy of the desert people.
Obviously water is a serious issue in this area. Surface water is minimal, found in artificially dug depressions. Small dams and reservoirs are being built by the government and some Non-Government organisations (NGOs) to capture and store rainwater when it does fall. There are aquifer zones at varying depths, including in the areas where coal is located. Some of this water is harvested through digging deep tube-wells. What will happen to this water with the coal mining which uses massive amounts of water?
Pakistan does not produce sufficient power to provide electricity for all its peoples' needs. 'Load shedding' is a part of life, where electricity is cut off for hours, including the hot summer months.
In such a context the discovery of massive amounts of coal under the sands of the Thar Parkar Desert, which has the potential to end load shedding and provide for all of Pakistan's energy needs for generations to come, is seen as a God send. But at what cost to the desert environment and its people today, and to future generations? This will increase climate change which is already been felt in the more prolonged droughts in the Thar Parkar Desert, as well as the heavier monsoons and increased flooding in recent years in other parts of the country.
The government and some mining companies, including a Chinese company, have begun the process of extracting the coal. The road is being upgraded from the main extraction area to Karachi, a distance of almost 300 kms. Small towns are being by-passed. So called economic benefits will be for the big cities and China, with little for the poor of the desert, except contaminated water! This is happening as Pope Francis has recently released the encyclical 'Laudato Si' in which he says climate change is a moral issue, "A very solid scientific consensus indicates that we are presently witnessing a disturbing warming of the climatic system ... The problem is aggravated by a model of development based on the intensive use of fossil fuels, which is at the heart of the worldwide energy system ... We know that technology based on the use of highly polluting fossil fuels - especially coal, but also oil, and, to a lesser degree, gas - needs to be progressively replaced without delay ... Access to safe drinkable water is a basic and universal human right, since it is essential to human survival and, as such, is a condition for the exercise of other human rights.... "
This is a microcosm of the challenge facing humanity. How to provide the energy necessary while decreasing the dependency on fossil fuels? The planet cannot tolerate the extraction of the vast quantities of coal in the Thar Parkar Desert and other locations around the world. It highlights the extent of the conversion and change of lifestyle that is necessary to turn things around. It is also a missionary challenge facing the local church, and a challenge for the many NGOs who claim to be working for the betterment of the people......A big challenge in the presence of a myriad of many other challenges.
This article has been sourced from The Far East magazine, October 2015 edition.
Columban Fr Tomás King SSC has been a missionary in Pakistan since 1992; ICN Independent Catholic News July 27th, 2015 (www.indcatholicnews.com).