Larkana Economic Profile

Gaithersburg, Md 20879, USA Telephone: 301-869-5447
SINDH REGIONAL PLAN ORGANISATION


DRAFTDISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PROFILE/PLANFOR DISTRICT LARKANA1998








FEBRUARY, 2000 DISTRICT DEVELOPMENT PROFILE/PLAN LARKANA 1998
CONTENT
Chapter Title Page No.
District Map I District at Glance 1 - 2
Chapter-1 Geographical Characteristics 4 - 6
1.1 Introduction 1.2 Location 1.3 Topography-(Tract/Zone) 1.4 Climate 1.5 Administrative set up
Chapter-2 Demographic Characteristics 7 - 11
2.1 Population 1998 2.2 Settlement pattern (size) urban/rural. - Statistical Table ....................... 10 - 11
Chapter-3 Agriculture 12 - 36
3.1 Land Utilization .................... 13 3.2 Crop Position ....................... 14 3.2.1 Rice ................................ 14 3.2.2 Wheat ............................... 14 3.2.3 Sugarcane ........................... 15 3.2.4 Minor Crops ......................... 15 3.3 Fertilizer .......................... 15 3.4 Improved Seed ....................... 16 3.5 Pesticides .......................... 17 3.6 Livestock ........................... 18 3.7 Veterinary Institution .............. 20 3.8 Inland Fisheries .................... 21 3.9 Forest .............................. 22 3.10 Food Storage ........................ 23 -- Statistical Tables .................. 25 - 36

Chapter-3-A Village Electirication 37

Chapter-4 Manufacturing 38 - 43
4.1 Existing Manufacturing 4.2 Industrial Small Scale Units 4.3 District potentials. - Statistical Tables ....................... 41 - 43
Chapter-5 Road Net work (Normal/F.T.M) 44 - 49
5.1 Existing Situation 5.2 Road Standards 5.3 Analysis 5.4 Development Gaps - Statistical Tables ...................... 48 - 49
Chapter-6 Educations 50 - 61
6.1 Primary Education 6.2 Secondary Education 6.3 High Secondary Education 6.3 College Education 6.4 Technical/Commercial/Vocational Education 6.5 Professional Education 6.6 Medical Education 6.7 Establishment of General University 6.8 Board of Intermediate & Secondary Education - Statistical Tables ........................ 57 - 61
Chapter-7 Health 62 - 78
7.1 Existing Position of Health alongwith development gap. - Statistical Tables ....................... 65 - 78
Chapter-8 Water Supply & Drainage/ 79 - 93 Sewerage
8.1 Urban Water Supply 8.2 Urban Drainage 8.3 Rural Water Supply 8.4 Rural Drainage 8.5 Facilities provided through Rural Development Department. 8.6 Policy Issues/Options. - Statistical Tables ....................... 87 - 93 DISTRICT AT GLANCEGENERAL INFORMATIONDISTRICT LARKANA
S.NO. DESCRIPTION UNIT INFORMATION----- ------------ ----- ------------
1. ADMINISTRATIVE SETUP
Sub-Division Nos 5 Talukas " 7 Union Councils " 55 Market Committee " - Deh " 466 Villages/Settlements " 1626 Metropolitan/Municipal Corp: " - Municipal Committees " 5 Town Committees " 6 2. AREA Sq. kms. 7,423
3. DEMOGRAPHY -
Population (Total) Nos. 19,03,020 Male " 9,81,366 Female " 9,21,654
Rural " 13,49,849 Male " 6,94,376 Female " 6,55,473
Urban " 5,53,171 Male " 2,86,990 Female " 2,66,181 Population Density Per sq.km. 256
4. AGRICULTURE (MAJOR CROPS)
Area Hectare
Cotton " - Rice " 2,11,879 Wheat " 71,912 Sugarcane " 1,024 Jawar " 1,823 Barley " 2,753 Rape Seed & Mustered " 14,291 Gram " -
Production
Cotton Bales - Rice M.Tons 6,30,307 Wheat " 1,20,126 Sugarcane " 43,017 Jawar " 739 Barley " 1,252 Rape Seed & Mustered " 11,301 Gram " -
S.NO. DESCRIPTION UNIT INFORMATION----- ------------ ----- ------------
5. INDUSTRIAL SETUP
Sugar Factories Nos. 1 Cotton Ginning Factories " 3 Rice Mills " 109 Oil Mills " - Ice Factories " - Others " 2
6. ENERGY
Villages Electrified(200 & above) Nos. 1,604 Development Gap (200 & above) " 18
7. COMMUNICATION: Kms. 2,223
Mettled Road Kms. 1,872
Un-Mettled Road (Katcha) " 351
8. EDUCATION:
Primary Schools Nos. 2,649
a) Male " 2,255 b) Female " 494
Middle Schools " 118
a) Male " 72 b) Female " 46
High Schools " 92
a) Male " 69 b) Female " 23
9. HEALTH INSTITUTIONS:
Civil Hospital/Other Major Nos. 1 Hospitals
Taluka Head Quarter Hospitals " 6
Rural Health Centres " 9
Basic Health Units " 62
Dispensaries (Govt.) " 26

(2)S.NO. DESCRIPTION UNIT INFORMATION----- ------------ ----- ------------
10. UTILITIES:
Rural Water Supply Schemes Nos. 93 (Completed)
Rural W/S Coverage 1000+ " 93 Population Settlements
Development Gap* " 279
Rural Drainage Scheme (Completed) " 117
Rural Drainage (Coverage) 1000+ " 117
Development Gap (1000) Settlement " 245



















(3) CHAPTER-1

GEOGRAPHICAL CHARACTERISTICS

1.1 INTRODUCTION
Larkana ("House of Lariks") has derived its name from a tribe of 'Larik' who, once, were settled in the surroundings. Although the remains of Indus Valley Civilization, (2500-1500 BC), have been excavated at Moenjodaro, 32 k.m away from Larkana, the first mention of this city in the history of Sindh is found after 1701 A.D., in the Kalhora period. 1701 to 1783 A.D. "The Larkana Town has grown gradually on the right bank of old Ghar Canal during the days of Mian Noor Muhammad Kalhoro. The present Mouhallah Khafila Serai of Larkana Town was a main ferry point from where the trade was carried through Ghar Canal. At the time of excavation of the Canal, the town was small hamlet consisting of a few huts belonging to Lariks". In recent history, Larkana, because of its environs still maintain lush green rice fields with fruit farms, particularly Guavas.
Politically, Larkana District plays an important role in the History of Pakistan. Two Prime Ministers of the country belong to this district. This District is really a Land Mark in restoration of Democracy in Pakistan.
1.2 LOCATION
The District is located from 27-08', to 28" north latitudes and 67-12', to 68-24', east; longitudes, It is bounded in the north by Kachi, Nasirabad and Shikarpur District, in the east by Khairpur District, in the south by Dadu District and in the west by Khuzdar District of Baluchistan province. The total geographical area of the District, is 7,423 sq.k.m.
1.3 TOPOGRAPHY
The area of the District is divided into there tracts, namely, the Kohistan tract, the Central-Canal irrigated Tract and the Eastern Riverine Tract.
a) KOHISTAN TRACT:
It consists of the entire western side of the district. It is separated from the Central Canal-Irrigated tract by a long protective earthen Bund. The area gradually rises towards the west from sandy ground to the hilly areas of Khirthar range. These hills extend along the whole western boundary of the district from north to south, for about 50 to 60 km. with a width of about 20 km. The hills consist of an ascending series of ridges running generally north to south with broad flat valleys in between. The highest ridge of the range is, about 1.500 metres above the sea level. The highest peak, is 2,096 metres above the sea level. These hills provide good pasture land for sheep and goats rearing.
b) CENTRAL TRACT:
It is a low lying, vast, flat land containing canal irrigated area. The tract is bounded by two protective bunds, one in the west, to stop the hill torrents and the other in the east, to safeguard against flood water from Indus. All the main east bank, barrage canals irrigate this tract though various distributaries.
c) EASTERN TRACT:
It is situated between the flood protection bund of the Indus river and the main river, it self. Most of the land is riverine and is cultivated during the winter season.
1.4 CLIMATE
The District has extremes of climate. It is hot in summer and could in winter. The net-work of canals and general sub-mercian of soil during summer months add moisture to the heat. The hot months continue upto the end of September or some times extend upto the middle of October, after which nights become cooler and the day temperature also begins to recede. The district being situated far away from the sea, does receive sea breeze. The mean maximum and minimum temperature for the summer season is approximately 43c and 33c while that of the winter season 21c and 11c respectively. The rainfall is poor, the average being 100 to 125 millimetre per year. There are fierce hot winds locally called Challiho which blow continuously for about forty days around the middle of May every year.
1.5 ADMINISTRATIVE SET-UP
Larkana enjoy the position of a Divisional Headquarters. The District Larkana consists of 5 sub-divisions and 7 talukas. There are 11-Urban localities, (5 Municipal Committees and 6 Town committees). It has 55 Union councils and one District council. There are 466-Dehs (including 6 uninhabited dehs). Sixteen Dehs had more than five thousand population each, whereas only eight Dehs had less than two hundred population each in 1981. CHAPTER- 2
DEMOGRAPHIC CHARACTERISTICS
2.1 POPULATION
The total population of Larkana District was recorded 1903020 souls according to recently conducted Population Census 1998, within 1981-98, intercensal period, a spare of 17 years, the population of Larkana has grown by 764440 or 67.14% at an average annual growth rate of 3.07%. Taluka wise details are given in the table No.II.
With the total land area of 7423 Sq.kms of the land area, Larkana has a density of 256 persons per sq.kms as compared to 153 per sq.kms in 1981.
About 553171 persons or 19.07% of its population are settled in urban areas and 1349849 persons or 70.93% live in rural areas, the sex ratio (male per 100 females) is worked out 106, this ratio is further constituted 106 males for rural and 108 for urban areas. Town wise urban population is depicted in table No.III.
According to 1998 population census, there are 332052 house holds in Larkana district comprising of 1903020 persons, thus giving an average size of about 6 persons per house hold.
2.2 SETTLEMENT PATTERN
In Urban sector, Larkana consists of 11 localities (5 M.Cs. 6 T.Cs). Rural areas comprise of about 4804 Settlements/Villages falling in different groups of population. By definition settlement is defined as "Place of human habitation from one isolated house to a big town or a city with certain identified location and name" on other hand the village as per definition of Board of Revenue Sindh, is defined as "Place of human habitation having at least ten houses", the village in population terms is therefore could be defined as a place of human habilitation having population of about 70-100 persons (7-10 household size) and above (but not more than 5000) with certain identified location and name. Taluka wise Rural settlement pattern according survey conducted by Sindh Bureau of Statistics during 1994 are given as under:
S.No. District/Taluka NO.OF SETTLEMENT 200-499 500-999 1000+ Total1. Larkana District. 829 484 313 16262. Larkana Taluka 132 74 47 2533. Ratodero 67 71 47 1854. Shahdad Kot 130 49 17 1965. Warah 122 77 65 2646. Kambar 156 73 48 2777. Mero Khan 112 60 32 2048. Dokri 110 80 57 247
------------------------------------------------------------------ Source:- Sindh Bureau of Statistics.
There are total 1226 settlements containing 200-1000 population in Larkana district. The above table indicates that more than 50% settlements have population less than 200. In fact these settlements are less established and can be treated as farm households scattered population on agriculture land and having migratory trend from one place to another place according to their requirements based on seasons. These type of settlements are mostly established by seasonal workers, livestock holders etc. The rural settlements having population of 200+ may be considered cut off point and need special attention by conglomerating basic socio-economic facility in centralized locations in case it is expensive to provide such facilities at each of these settlements though these rural settlements (200-499) clearly quality for a mosque school and provision of electricity. The rural settlements with population less than 1000 (500-999) may be considered for provision of education, electricity/pucca road facility and the rural settlements with population 1000 and above should be considered for all possible civic facilities to convert them into sub urban localities and to attract surrounding scattered hamlets to voluntary migration.
CHAPTER 3
AGRICULTURE SECTOR
Pakistan's economy has undergone considerable diversification over the years, yet the agriculture sector still constitutes its back-bone. With its present contribution to GDP at 24.87 percent, Agriculture accounts for half of the total employed labour force and is the largest source of foreign exchange earnings while it serves as the base sector for the country's major industries like textiles and sugar.
The economic development of Sindh is largely dependent on the progress and growth of Agriculture sector. The Sindh province contributes significantly towards over all national agriculture with 26% of the cultivated area, 17% of the cropped area and 16% of the irrigated area, 19% of the total forest area, 43% of the total production of rice, 25% of cotton, 14% wheat, 30% sugar cane, 22% other food grains, 59% of marine fish, 60% of inland fish and 28% of the live stock production originates in Sindh. Lower productivity levels per hectare continue to be problem No. 1 of crop production. Over a last ten years period, most insignificant increases are noticeable in yield of major crops over several years despite efforts under taken to eradicate water-logging and Salinity, provision of new seed varieties, increased use of fertilizer, pesticides, provision of agriculture extension services and on-farm water management practice and close co-ordination among farmers and agricultural field staff. Achievements of self sufficiency in major crop production must, therefore, address to the key issue bottlenecks. The enhancement of yields in the shortest possible time needs to be taken by reviewing existing programme by involving farming community in co-operative manners reducing reliance on extension staff.
3.1 LAND UTILIZATION.
The pattern of land use in a region determines crop production. Soil & climate play an important role in the management of cropping pattern of a region. Crop area used for food and cash crops can be taken as an index of the type of land system and the economic use for these crops. Land use data for latest five years reveals that the reported area in Larkana district remained unchanged except during the year 1995-96 where it was declined by 0.9 thousand hectares. However, not all of this area is cultivable, 29.4% was reported "uncultivable" though its share was 30.9% in 1993-94.
The share of cultivated area in the reported area decreased from 52.8% in 1993-94 to about 51.8% in 1997-98. It, however, is still much higher as compared to over all Sindh. On the contrary it reflected lower cropping intensities as compared to Sindh. From the data given in table No.1, though the cropping intensities increased somewhat since last many years, but an acre of land in Larkana district is not being cropped fully even once in a year. However, the cropped area increased from 236.5 thousand hectares in 1993-94 to 249.3 thousand hectares in 1997-98 with 64.8% cropping intensity.
The cropped area increased by about 5.4% but the cultivated area decreased by 1.8% during the period of five years. A small part of the area about 7.2% is being used for grazing or forest and remaining land is lying unused due to unfavourable condition or lack of irrigation water.
It is noted that the pressure of total rural population on cultivated area has increased considerably since last many years. The ratio of cultivated area per person decreased from 0.33 in 1993-94 to 0.23 in 1997-98.
3.2 CROP POSITION.
There are two main crop seasons; "Kharif" and "Rabi" in Larkana District. The Kharif season starts from April-May and ends in October-November while the Rabi starts from November-December and ends in April-May. However, due to regional variation in temperature, several factors i.e varieties, availability of water, soil texture etc determine the crop pattern, sowing and harvesting time. The Crops are further categorized into major and minor crops. Rice, Wheat and Sugar-cane are the major crops of the district. Onion, Barely, jowar, mattor, gram, rapeseed & mustard and fall in the category of minor crops.
3.2.1 RICE:
Rice is an important food as well as highly valued cash crop that earns substantial foreign exchange for the country. Besides, it is also a staple food crop of the people of Larkana district. Thus it occupies the majority of cultivated land under rice. Its share in total cropped area was recorded at 55.1%. Despite the relative price having favoured the high yielding varieties, farmers traditionally grow the IRRI, and other varieties in district Larkana.
The area under rice increased by 0.7% from 210.4 thousand hectares in 1996-97 to 211.9 thousand hectares in 1997-98. On the contrary, the production of rice went down significantly by 14.6% from 660.3 thousand tonnes to 630.3 thousand tonnes. Similarly yield per hectare also decreased by 5.3% from 3138 kgs. per hectare to 2974 kgs. per hectare.(Table No.2)
3.2.2 WHEAT.
The area and production of wheat for the year 1997-98 were estimated at 71.9 thousand hectares and 120.1 thousand tonnes respectively. The yield, however, was recorded at 1670 kgs. The area under wheat significantly increased by 12.0% during the year 1994-95. but, it slightly by 0.4% in the next year. The production situation generally remained satisfactorily over the last five years and it grew at the rate of 5.8% due to favourable whether condition at sowing times (Table No.2).
3.2.3 SUGARCANE:
Sugar production in the Sindh province depends mostly on sugarcane crop. Keeping in view its importance, great deal of attention has been paid to increase both the area and production of sugarcane. It was reported that during the year 1997-98 the sugarcane area and production upsurged by 0.7% & 9.4% respectively. (Table No.2).
Similarly, the yield per hectare which increased by 18.7% from 38.6 metric tonnes per hectares in 1996-97 to 42.0 metric tonnes per hectare in 1997-98. The increase was mainly due to the attractive incentives to the farmers provided by the sugar mill management and also an increase in support price and favourable climatic condition prevailing in the sugarcane growing areas of district Larkana.
3.2.4 MINOR CROPS:
The information available in table No.3 depicts that matter, rape seed & mustard, barely, masoor jawar and onion were the minor crops, which significantly contributed the share of 8.5%, 3.3%, 1.1%, 0.8%, 0.4% and 0.2% in the total cropped area of the district Larkana respectively during the year 1997-98.
3.3 FERTILIZER: Fertilizer is one of the major input which can enhance the crop production. The timely application and use of correct doze is an essential factor for increasing crop yields. Its contribution towards increased crop production is about 50%.
Mostly the soils of Larkana district are fertile but there are also deficit in nitrogenous and phosphatic nutrients. Nitrogen is very essential for accelerating plant vigour, producing large number of flowers, number of sound seeds per capsule and their proper size. It increases protein content of the seed as well. Phosphorous contributes in photosynthetic activities of plants, formation of seed, fibre and proper development of root system.
The recommended dozes of nitrogenous, phosphatic & potassium fertilizer varies from crop to crop and other factors like fertility of soil, topography, availability of water, use of quality seed, proper preparation of land etc.
The information available in table No.4 on off-take of fertilizer for the period from 1993-94 to 1997-98 depicts that it grew at the rate of 0.7% per annum in Larkana district. The total off-take of fertilizer (N+P+K) in Larkana district in both the Kharif and Rabi seasons of 1997-98 was 40.5 thousand nutrients tonnes which was 5.7% higher than the corresponding period of the last year. Moreover, the figures show a remarkable increase of 19.0% in off-take of fertilizer during the year 1993-94 as compared to last year where it was 31.7 thousand M.tonnes.
It is estimated that off-take of fertilizer in Larkana district was 6.8% of the total off-take in Sindh.
3.4 IMPROVED SEED: A quality of seed is a basic requirement for increasing the production and productivity of the crop. It is a low cost input but has the potential to increase crop yield on an average by 20% as compared to non-certified seeds.
It is reported that sale of certified seeds has been declining since many years. The figures indicate in table No.5 that the sale of wheat and paddy certified seeds drastically decreased by 59.1%, and 92.7% respectively over the period of lat five years. The sale of wheat certified seed was recorded at 1.38 thousand kg. mds. at the cost of Rs.634.8 thousand during the year 1997-98 which was 38.0% lesser than the preceding year. It is estimated that 3.4 thousand hectares of wheat crop were cultivated under certified seed which was only 0.8% of the total cropped area under wheat in Larkana district.
The distribution of improved paddy seed in Larkana district was estimated at 270 kg. mds. with a total outlays of Rs.101 thousand during the year 1997-98. Its share to the total cropped area under paddy in Larkana was remained at 0.1%.
The most farmers use their own (farm) or from market and vast majority have little access for quality control as the public agencies and market agencies do not provide more than 3 to 17 percent of good and certified seed for these crops. The less use of improved seed is one of the most serious factor for obtaining low yields.
3.5 Pesticides.
Pesticides plays major role in protecting cops from the attack of pest and disease. It is estimated that crops losses, during the growth season and after harvesting, caused by insect & pests are considerable high to the extent of 25%. Many of these losses are avoidable, if proper preventive and curative measures are taken. Plant protection measures, dependent mainly on pesticides, are grossly inadequate even for the four leading crops. The most preferred use of plant protection measures on crops are now the ground sprays both as preventive and curative measures.
Increase in cropping intensities and cultivation pattern help the development of permanent flora for retaining the sufficient quantity of seed in soil. The application of tillage operation including hand labour for control of weeds are not traditionally practised due to shortage of labour and its high costs. Wedicides, are not mostly used, however, only insignificant progressive farmers are applying wedicides in wheat crop.
It is reported in table No.6 that the area of 2008 hectares under wheat crops was treated with 4.23 metric tonnes wedicide for the control of weeds which covered only 2.8% of the total area under wheat in Larkana district in 1997-98.
The latest information available on use of pesticides indicates that the plant protection measures were carried out over an area of 64640 hectares under rice crop which utilized the pesticide of 75.29 metric tonnes. The coverage was only 30.5% of the total area cultivated under rice in district Larkana.
Similarly, Sugar Cane crop with an area of 748 hectares was protected from the attack of insect pests. The 0.83 metric tonnes pesticides were used with a coverage of 73.0% of the total area under sugar cane in Larkana district.
3.6 Livestock:
Livestock is one of the major sub-sector of Agriculture and back bone of our economy. It contributes roughly one third in the total share of Agriculture GDP. Its main by-products including hides and skins have substantial potential as semi-finished products. A substantial growth on Live Stock products viz-a-viz milk, meat, beef, mutton, poultry and eggs have been notices since many years.
It has been estimated that over three - fourths of the farm power comes from animals, and they are used for most of the farm operations. Bullocks provide the draft power on farm and in transport around the villages.
Most farmers traditionally keep a few heads of live stock, ranging from bullocks for draft to buffaloes or cattle for milk and poultry for eggs & meat. There is a need for increasing the heads of live stock to supplement income by selling products. Production for market even at the expense of consumption at home has become quite common in many areas of Sindh. There are pockets of organised live stock farming, such as cattle farms (or colonies) and poultry farms, located mainly in the urban areas. Most other units are of small size and not well kept.
As per live stock census 1996, the population of cattle, buffaloes, sheep and goats in Larkana district were recorded at 292054, 501085, 225469 and 280588 respectively. The population of live stock grew by 1.7% cattle, 5.5% buffaloes, 2.5% sheep and 4.4% goats over the last live stock census enumerated in 1986.(Table No.7).
Meat, hair, hides, skins and wool are the other major products of live stock. Beef is the most important source of meat. But most of this beef is produced from discarded old bullocks, milch cattle and buffaloes, and buffalo calves. Mutton comes next in the market place, and it is provided by a variety of goats and sheep.
During the year 1996-97 it was reported that 127699 animals were slaughtered in the Larkana district. Out of the total slaughtered animals, 51983 cattle, 14992 buffaloes, 23116 sheep and 73608 goats were slaughtered. It was estimated that 11.9% cattle, 1.9% buffaloes, 13.3% sheep and 8.6% goats were slaughtered out of the total live stock population in 1996-97. It was observed that slaughtering of cattle was decreased by more than 49.5% whereas in case of buffaloes, sheep and goats were increased by 12.9%, 15.0% and 11.7% respectively.( Table No.8)
In order to meet the requirements of meat and milk, live stock farming seems to be necessary in joint venture of public/private sector or helping private sector in importing the livestock for establishing live stock farms through loans on easy terms & conditions. The Larkana district posses vast potential for establishing livestock farming in the district.
3.7 Veterinary Institution.
The under nourishment, disease and internal parasites, act as a serious constrain on animal production. The animal have to be guarded against ill health, and preventive curative measures are required to be taken regularly. The veterinary hospitals, dispensaries and centres provide preventive and curative services for disease control for live stock.
Table No.9 depicts that in Larkana district 3 veterinary hospitals, 12 dispensaries and 44 veterinary centres were functioning during the year 1997-98. In all 59 veterinary institutions were available to provide health coverage and treatment facilities to the entire livestock of the district. In all 866 veterinary Institutions were established in the Province of Sindh which translated into the health care ratio of one veterinary Institution for 2628 live stock. It is worked out that Larkana district had 6.8% of the total veterinary Institutions in Sindh.
Institution Sindh Larkana %age Share Hospital 64 3 4.7% Dispensaries 115 12 10.4% Centres 687 44 6.4% Total 866 59 6.8%
The establishment of veterinary hospitals/centres at district, tahsil and taluka level has hardly contributed towards live stock disease control. Though expansion of live stock dispensaries and centres in the rural area has partially been successful in disease control. There is a need for diversification of veterinary health institutions from cities to rural areas.
The existing position indicates that 1302607 animals were treated, and 431648 animals were vaccinated for the control of various diseases in veterinary institutions thereby representing 100.0% of curative and 33.2% of preventive coverage over the total live stock population in Larkana district.
3.8 Inland Fisheries:
Inland fishing, the main economic activity is practised in rivers, lacks and ponds etc. in Sindh province. Fish not only supplements protein deficiency of food but also earns foreign exchange for the country. Fisheries contributes to both the national income and export earnings.
Inland fish production has been increasing over the years. In Larkana district the inland fish production registered with an increase of 17.1% to 8400 m.tonnes in 1997 over the preceding year. It is estimated that Larkana district contributes 9.1% of total 91903 m.tonnes inland fish production of Sindh. It is reported that 1050 fishermen were engaged full time in the fisheries sector whereas 460 fishermen contributed their service for part time during the year 1997. Total number of boats used for the catchment of fish were 317. Of these, 215 boats were sail type and 102 boats were row type.(Table No.10)
Per capita consumption of inland fish in the province of Sindh is very low i.e. 3.1 kg only. Keeping in view of the high rate population growth, production from land resources will not be able to keep up with the population increase. Protein deficiency could become serious problem in near future. In order to solve this, fish production needs proper attention to exploit the abundant resources to meet the protein needs of a growing population.
3.9 Forest:
Forests are not only necessary for in-habited by livestock population dependable source of energy but instrumental in improving environmental quality and dependable source for meeting domestic energy requirements of fuel wood. Besides it helps in conservation of soils, improve environment by controlling pollution, cause rainfall and climatic changes supplement source of energy and stabilize gas and oil prices. The forestry programme in Sindh envisages management of forest on commercial basis in the Riverine forests, irrigation plantation forests, mangrove forests, development of Social Forestry, Agriculture, Coconut and Range lands.
Total forest area in Sindh was 1161 thousand hectares or 8.3% of the Sindh province area which far below the desired ratio of 20 to 30 percent considered necessary for balanced ecology. The per capita forest area being 0.039 hectare in Sindh province or 0.032 hectares in the country was also quite low as compared to the world average of about 1.0 hectare.
In Larkana District the forest area is spread over 70.24 hectares which is 6.0% of the total area under forest in Sindh in the year 1997-98. Larkana district produced 9.0 thousand cubic feet timber wood and 14.41 thousand cft. fire wood at the value of Rs.144.1 thousand which contributes about 0.8% of the total value of forest Timber & Fire wood in Sindh in 1997-98.(Table No.11)
The forest out put was decreased by Rs.349.3 thousand from Rs.666.8 thousand in 1996-97 to Rs.317.4 thousand in 1997-98 which representing a decline of 52.4% in terms of value in Larkana district. In order to meet the standard ratio of 20-30% land as forest there is a need to bring more area of 148.5 to 222.7 thousand hectares under forest where as in fact there is a substantial potential of growing agro-forest in Larkana .
Progress in increasing forest area has been limited due to financial and social constraints. The only need to increase the forest wealth in the province of Sindh as well as in country is to extensively grow trees on farm lands. In order to involve farming community in tree growing activity, social forestry programmes have been launched through out in the country with attractive incentives in the form of subsidize supply of planting stock, partial payment of planting cost, free protection of planted areas for a limited period of time and fair return to the farmers. The tree plantation on katcha/pucca road/canal path and in Government offices, health/education institution shall continue to be encouraged.
3.10 Food Storage:
Maintenance of food grain reserves is necessary to meet the off season requirements and to stabilize the prices. To achieve this end storage facilities are required by the producers as well as by marketers, processors and the government. The farmer needs storage in order to sell when prices are favourable and reduce seasonal fluctuation in prices. The government requires stocks to carry out the country through bad years. Government role as the distributary agency of essential items necessitates enlargement of storage facilities.
The main thrust of government storage policy is to make available proper storage facilities, bring improvement in grain handling system & reduce grain losses to ensure the supply of adequate and good quality of food grains to the consumers. Food storage in public sector were provided for wheat, rice & cotton.
As a result of significant increase in domestic production and future needs of storage for important agricultural commodities and inputs, the demand for increase in storage capacity has become acute.
As per information provided in table No.12 the total storage capacity of 746120 metric tonnes was available with government of Sindh. Of these, 95% godown owned by food department, 0.4% H.type storage accommodation constructed through annual development programme and 4.6% storage facility at an open plinth.
Larkana district had H.type storage accommodation with capacity of 27500 metric tonnes. CHAPTER 3-A
VILLAGE ELECTRIFICATION.
Electricity is essential for urban/rural development in all sectors of economy and in all walks of life. Provision of electricity to rural people is, in other words, a provision of happiness and prosperity to rural masses. Generally electricity in rural areas is provided in rural settlement with population of 200 and above. WAPDA is the sole authority to electrify villages under different programmes.
As per population census of 1998, in district Larkana, there were 1626 rural settlements with population 200 and above. WAPDA has so far electrified 1604 villages. There are still 18 villages which need to be electrified.
CHAPTER-4
MANUFACTURING
EXISTING MANUFACTURING UNITS.
4.1 The manufacturing establishments in district Larkana (as shown in table No.6.1) were reported as 115 units during Census of Manufacturing Industries (CMI), 1997-98. By comparing with the previous census that took place in 1990-91, under which 84 units were reported, it shows that 31 more units have been increased. The leading order of the manufacturing groups during 1997-98 is given below:
S.No. Group No.of Units functioning---- ----- -----------
i. Cotton Textile 3ii. Rice Mills 109iii. Sugar 1 iv. Flour Mills 1v. Engineering 1 ----------- 115 -----------
4.2 The detailed position of above mentioned Cotton Textile units, Rice Mills, Sugar Mill, Flour Mill and Engineering workshop (Location-wise) is given as follows:
TALUKA LARKANA.
4.3 In this taluka, there are 26 establishments reported during the census of manufacturing industries (CMI) 1997-98 against the total number of 115 units for the whole district.
TALUKA SHAHDAD KOT.
4.4 In this taluka, there are 24 industrial units which include one Textile and 23 Rice Mills as reported during the last census.
INDUSTRIES IN REST OF DISTRICT.
4.5 In the rest of District Larkana, there are 65 units which include 14 units in Rato Dero (13 Rice Mills and One Sugar Mill), 19 units of Rice Mill in Warah, 16 Rice Mills in Qumber Ali Khan, 12 Rice Mills in Dokri and 4 Rice Mills in taluka Miro Khan.
SUGAR MILL IN DISTRICT LARKANA.
4.6 There is one Sugar Mill in Larkana district located in Rato Dero. Larkana is basically a rice growing area. A limited area of 1024 hectares was also brought under Sugar-cane cultivation with 43017 tonnes production. The field production of Sugarcane at 38.6 tonnes yield per hectare happens to be on lower side. The Sugar-cane requirements of the mill are, therefore, being fulfilled by procuring Sugar-cane from by other districts.
INDUSTRIAL ESTATES (SMALL SCALE) IN LARKANA.
4.7 An Industrial Estate established under Sindh Small Industries Corporation in Larkana district is located in District Headquarter Larkana. There are 15 small Industrial Units functioning as self-employment schemes while 43 units are functioning under Small Industrial Estates. Besides, other 5 projects with 150 employees capacity are under implementation. (other detail is given in table No.4.2).
4.8 The detail of Industrial groups are as under:
a) Under Self-Employment Schemes:
i. Vegetable Ghee 2 i. Rice Mills 3 iii. Ice Factories 5 iii. Steel Engineering 2 iv. Other 4 ----- 15 -----
b) Under Small Industrial Estates:
i. Steel Mill 1 ii. Beverage 1 iii. Building Material 2 iv. M.P.G. (R.C.C. Pipe) 4 v. Vegetable Ghee 2 vi. Cotton 2 vii. Dull Mills 1 viii.Rice Mills 8 ix. Others 22 ----- 43 ----- CHAPTER-5

ROAD NETWORK

5.1 Road net-work is considered as a vehicle for economic development and social change. Besides, it is used as an Indicator for computing the stage of economic development. Efficient road network not only develops a quick and efficient transportation system but also opens up new areas hitherto remained closed. It brings about social integration among rural and urban sectors and greatly assist in accessibility to basic needs i.e. schools, hospitals, etc. It brings rural areas in constant touch with urban segment of society and creates better understanding necessary for social change and political awakening.
5.2 The eastern half of the district is comparatively better in road and rail transportation. All taluka headquarters are connected with the district headquarter by metalled roads. Most of katcha roads are in the western half of the district. Larkana is connected by Railway line with Shikarpur in North East, Dadu in South and Jacobabad in North. Except Warah, Mirokhan and Rato Dero, all other taluka headquarters are linked by rail.
5.3 In June 1998, Larkana had a total of 1872.37 km. of metalled Road under Highway Department (National High Way Authority and provincial Government) and Katcha Road mileage at 351 kms. The details of Road by its type is given as under.


ABSTRACT OF ROAD MILEAGE (K.M.) OF DISTRICT LARKANA AS ON 30-06-1998
S.NO. Items Metalled Katcha Total Road Road---- ------- -------- ------- ------
i. Highways 83.67 -- 83.67ii. Rural Roads 1069.76 99.55 1169.31iii. Farm to Market Roads 718.94 251.57 970.50 --------------------------------- Grand Total: 1872.37 351.12 2223.49 --------------------------------- Details are given in Table No.2. ROAD STANDARDS.

5.4 For identifying the development gaps, there are certain standards about adequacy of roads which are as under:
i) 0.50 km. of Pucca road per 1 sq. km. of geographic area.
ii) Road density based on cultivable area. (2.km. per 1 sq.km.)
iii) Road density based on cropped area.(1.km. per 1.sq.km.)
iv) Road network connecting settlements of 1000+ and 500+ population.
v) Road length per 10,000 population.
vi) Movement of persons goods and services.

5.6 The available international standard related to agriculture postulates that there should be atleast 2 km. of road for every sq.km. of cultivable area. Modification of this standard appears necessary from two angles: Firstly, this standard includes katcha roads as well whereas we would like to evolve a standard in terms of metalled road only. Secondly, the standard is related to cultivable area which is invariably greater than cropped area. The cropped area standard of 1 km. of metalled road per sq.km. of cropped area is also misleading. As in irrigated area, it must be much higher than in deserted/hilltorian areas. However, the settlements located in unirrigated zone also require special attention and connecting of 1000+ & 500+ villages appears appealing except some settlements located in unproductive zones (desert, hill tracts) the settlements lying therein with population 1000+ should at least be connected.
5.7 Under the population standard, urban settlements with large population would get more roads. However, the data of movement of persons, goods and services is not easily available.
5.8 Under these circumstances, the standard based on geographical area is most suited i.e. (0.5 km. of pucca road per 1 sq. km. of geographical area).
ANALYSIS.
5.9 According to High ways Department's road statistics Sindh Province had a total of 20781.45 Km of pucca road upto June 1998 out of this 1872.37 (9.0%) were in Larkana District which compares well with its population share of 6.34% .
5.10 A simple taluka wise analysis of the road situation in the district is given in Table No.1. The table shows pucca road densities (in K.M) per sq.km of geographical area wherein it is evident that Kamber taluka is by far the most back ward taluka in so far as pucca road facility is concerned. The pucca road density for this taluka works out as 0.115 km. per sq.km of geographical area as compared to the respective figures of 0.25 km. for the district.

DEVELOPMENT GAP.
5.11 Super imposing the chosen/agreed standard of 0.5 km. of metalled Road for one sq. km. of geographical area, we need a total of 3711.5 km. of metalled road. With the existing road length pitched at 1872.37 km. additional road length of 1839.13 km. (development gap) is required to be constructed to meet the standard in District Larkana. The taluka-wise information on road densities, required road length and development gap is given in table No.1.
CHAPTER-6
EDUCATION SECTOR
The Majority of Schools in the District belonging to Government are functioning under the supervision of District Education Officer (Male/Female). Education is basic right of the people, therefore, Primary Education for Children male/Female is mandatory and it is provided free of cost in the province of Sindh. The formal Educational structure in Sindh is divided into four main streams, the first level known as primary refers to Grade I-V for age of school going population 5-9 years, 2nd stage includes middle secondary, elementary and higher secondary. The third stream is called college education which consists of higher education. After completion of the college education, a candidate is awarded Bachelor degree in Arts, Commerce or Science. Duration of post secondary education varies in Technical and Professional fields, the Poly Technic Institutes offer four years B. Tech course. A Bachelor degree in medicines requires five years education. Similarly Bachelor degree courses in Engineering, Agriculture and Veterinary medicines are awarded of four years duration after the intermediate examination.
An additional two years after the bachelor degree are required to acquire a master degree in Arts, Commerce or Science leading to award a Ph.D degree may require two or three more years after the completion of master degree course.
6.1 PRIMARY EDUCATION:
In the Primary Schools network during 1997-98 in Larkana, there were total 2649 schools including mosque schools, out of which 2438 schools were located in rural areas and 211 schools in urban areas, urban schools of total 211 were further bifurcated into 145 male and 66 female schools, total primary enrolment of 196850 souls was noted (128291 male and 68559 female) in the district, there 7067 teaching staff was engaged in providing primary education including 1516 female teachers.
Teacher student ratio worked out on the basis of information received from the Education Department stands at 1:23, 1:10 and 1:28 for male, female and both sexes respectively.
The participation rate at primary level calculated on the basis of population projection stands at 80% for male and 46% for female, over all participation is worked out to 63%.
In Larkana District, there were 343 closed/on paper Primary schools during 1997-98 as per record of SEMIS. 1054 boys and 204 girls schools were lacking toilets. 1513 schools were without drinking water facility. 1493 Primary schools including 206 girls schools are without boundary wall. 654 schools are functioning either in rental building or shelterless. 784 schools require repair, where as 106 schools were working in dangerous buildings which require immediate attention of concerned officers to avoid any financial and physical loss of lives.
The Social Action programme SAP has taken care of the idea by enhancing female enrolments and developed a following criteria which will boost up the female primary education.
CRITERIA FOR RURAL PRIMARY SCHOOLS (2 ROOM)
(a) The first school in a area shall be established as mixed school. The Second School in the same areas shall be girls school.
(b) No existing primary school within the range of 1.5 km.
(c) The age group population of 5-9 years must be 100.
For universalization of primary education there is need of opening new schools which will provide additional enrolment resulting in increase of literacy rate. There is need of reactivation of closed schools. And also there is need of resorting the existing enrolment for which reconstruction improvement in existing schools is required.
To achieve the goal following are the recommendations.
A. REACTIVATION OF CLOSED PRIMARY SCHOOLS:
1. Stoppage of transfer/deputation of teacher from village schools to, urban area/or place of their choice.
2. The closed schools located at remote places/or in a settlements below criteria and having no school building may officially be declared as closed and a new school may be established at a deserving rural settlement that falls on the population criteria etc.
3. In future, while appointing primary school teachers (male/female), preference may be given to local area teachers. Due to this at least "non local teachers" will not be the reason for closure of the schools.
B. CONSOLIDATION OF EXISTING PRIMARY SCHOOLS: 1. Buildings may only be provided to already established school functioning in a temporary accommodation, running under trees in Jhugis or rented building and having atleast enrolment of 60 children.
2. Furniture/Electricity/Water/Toilet/Latrine facility may be provided to such an established schools that have suitable building and having no such facilities in the first instance.
3. Re-adjustment of existing schools buildings may be done through administrative steps. A simple executive order issued for introduction of double shift programme in urban/rural locations will change the scenario and will also save the anticipated development expenditure to be incurred on provision of separate building facility for boys & girls.
4. The boys school buildings located in rural settlements with 1000 and above population can be provided with additional class rooms if required, to make the school, five roomed.
C. OPENING OF NEW MOSQUE/PRIMARY SCHOOLS:
1. Instead of opening new primary schools for boys (alongwith construction of a new building) in rural settlements of 500-999, following strategy is proposed to be adopted:
a) In case of a building available for girls school, 2 shifts approach may be adopted. This will result in full utilization of the available school buildings.
b) Only mosque schools may be opened, where there is a gap in rural settlements below 500 population at the initial stage. After three years the mosque schools that attain an enrolment of 50 or more, after an evaluation may be converted into a primary school. The building may be provided to such school where there is no school building already available in the village.
3. No new building may be provided where the schools can run in shifts in the existing buildings of a primary school for boys or girls. This type of administrative action will reduce the development cost to be incurred on construction of new buildings.
D. CO-EDUCATION:
In urban area co-education at primary level may be introduced and female teacher may be appointed/posted in primary schools.
6.2 SECONDARY EDUCATION:
Secondary education consists of middle/high schools. In its existing position there were 117 middle schools (71 male and 46 female) in district Larkana with enrolment of 7641 and 438 teachers as per information available for 97-98. There was one Elementary School working in the district located in District Headquarter Larkana.
As regards the high schools, there were 81 high schools (63 for male and 18 for female) in the district during 1997-98. There were working 1740 teachers to coupe with the enrolment of 43518.
In Larkana District, there were 13 closed/on paper Secondary schools during 1997-98 as per record of SEMIS. 34 boys and 7 girls schools were lacking toilets. 56 schools were without drinking water facility. 45 Secondary schools including 8 girls schools are without boundary wall. 4 schools are functioning either in rental building or shelterless. 96 schools require repair, where as 14 schools were working in dangerous buildings which require immediate attention of concerned officers to avoid any financial and physical loss of lives.
In order to provide secondary education, urban locations must be covered with secondary school of male as well as female in case of non availability of school, initially middle school may be provided which could be up-graded to high school later on as per requirement. There are 11 Higher Secondary Schools in Larkana district having 20420 enrolment (13311 male 7109 female) with 643 teaching staff.
6.3 COLLEGE EDUCATION.
There are 9 colleges, 6 Colleges for Degree and 3 college for Intermediate of which 6 colleges are reserved for boys and 3 colleges for girls having 15757 students, same colleges are enriched with teaching staff of 201 male and 87 for female in the district Larkana. The Chandka Medical College (CMC), Cadet College, Z.A. Bhutto Agriculture College besides this Elementary College of Education for male/female is functioning and a College of Home Economics in Larkana is also under construction.
6.4 TECHNICAL/COMMERCIAL/VOCATIONAL EDUCATION:
Presently in Larkana there is one Polytechnic institute located at District Headquarter having enrolment of 360 students besides this under construction and 1 Commercial Traiing Institute having intake capacity of 140 students with enrolment of 101 students.
There are 8 Commercial training centre having enrolment of 598 students. Besides this 8 vocational institute for women are located at taluka level having intake capacity of 400 students and enrolment of 210 students. CHAPTER-7
HEALTH SECTOR
7.1 District Larkana has 4 major hospitals (including one medical teaching college hospital), 6 Taluka Head Quarter Hospitals, 9 Rural Health Centres, 43 Basic Health Units and 26 Dispensaries with total bed capacity of 1624. There are 132 doctors and 690 para medical staff in public sector who extend health services to 443258 outdoor and 5227 indoor patients in the district.
7.2 On the basis of existing health facilities, taluka wise details of population per health/bed facility are given in Table No.8.
7.3 The Chandka Medical College (CMC) Hospital Located in Larkana city and Paediatric and Shaikh Zaid Women Hospital provide health facilities to larkana city its adjoining areas and whole of the district besides other urban localities are either covered with T.H.Q., R.H.C or B.H.U. The Town wise coverage of Health facility is given in Table No. 1.A.
7.4 By the end of December, 1998, the public sector health institutions in the District and other urban centres consisted of 9 R.H.Cs, 43 B.H.Us and 26 dispensaries. In addition to above, 19 BHUs are under construction in the District. The Taluka-wise details are given in table No.1.B. As per policy of the government, a BHU has been provided in the every Union Council.
7.5 It may be pointed out that fifty five Union Councils of the district have already been covered with Health Facility of RHC or BHU. However, there are still number of big rural settlements/villages which go without health facilities. The taluka wise Union councils, covered with Health facility, is given in Table No. 7.
7.6 As per prescribed criteria, a Dispensary can be established in a rural settlement with population of 1000 having no health facility within the radius of 2-3 k.ms. Keeping in view the rural settlement pattern of the population census 1998, the following 202 rural settlements are categorized as big settlements with a population of 1000 & above in Larkana:
Settlement No.of Covered with DevelopmentSize Settlements Health Facilities Gap As per Population (1998) ----------- ------------- ------------------ --------------
1000 & above 202 105 97

7.7 Out of 202 settlements, 105 are covered with health facility. The rest of 97 settlements are yet to be covered in the Larkana district.
7.8 In order to make programme a success, the local community participation is necessary. They can share in the development activity by providing piece of land for construction of health facility and labour, etc.
7.9 The Government has accorded the highest priority to preventive programmes such as EPI, AIDS Control Programme, Maleria Control Programme and Health Education. The diseases covered under the EPI programme are the major killers of children. Efforts are being made to cover most of infants under this programme. It is under execution since 1979. The major objectives of the project are as under:-
(i) Vaccination of 90% new born infants and 100% remaining 12-23 months children against Poliomyelitis, Diphtheria, Pertussis, Tetanus, Measles and Childhood Tuberculosis.
(ii) Vaccination of 70% pregnant ladies and 100% of child bearing age ladies with atleast two doses of Tetanus Toxoid in order to eliminate neo-natal tetanus.










CHAPTER-8
WATER SUPPLY & DRAINAGE/SEWERAGE
8.1 Potable Water Supply is a pre-requisite for the health of people. Lack of proper drinking Water Supply and Sanitation in rural as well urban areas has caused wide spread water borne diseases of which diarrhoea (among small children) happens to be a major killer. The diseases are transmitted by water and poor sanitation which deplete human energy resulting in sickness reducing thereby the productivity of the people.
8.2 Larkana District consists of 7 talukas out of which 4 talukas have highly saline under-ground water. The water logging and salinity problem is common in all the seven talukas. As such water supply and sanitation in this district assumes great importance. URBAN WATER SUPPLY:
8.2 All Urban localities in district Larkana are covered with water supply through a piped water system. Besides, non-mechanised source of water supply like hand pumps/wells etc. are also used by the people. 20 schemes of water supply have been completed upto year 1996-97 and presently three schemes are on-going at the estimated cost of Rs.54.973 million during the year 1997-98. Details of completed water supply schemes (taluka-wise) are given in table No.1.
URBAN DRAINAGE:
8.4 So far provision of urban drainage facility in Larkana district is concerned, all the urban localities are covered with drainage/sewerage or open pucca drain system.15 schemes of drainage had been completed upto year 1996-97. Presently, 3 another schemes are under implementation at the estimated cost of Rs.135.862 million during the year 1997-98. Taluka-wise details of completed and on-going schemes are given in table No.1.
RURAL WATER SUPPLY:
8.5 The water supply facility in the rural areas of Sindh through a piped water system is to be provided according to the criteria which gives priority to "A rural settlement with population of 1000 and above preferably having brackish ground water". In Larkana district, 362 rural settlement having population upto 1000 are categorised into 3 type of settlements in descending order according to their size of population taking into account the quality of ground water.
8.6 Presently, out of 135 rural settlements having population 2000 and above, 32 settlements have been covered by the water supply facility. In second category which includes 65 settlements with population ranging between 1999 to 1500, 8 rural settlements have been facilitated by water supply schemes while in the third category out of 162 rural settlements 30 have been covered by such facility. Thus, out of total 362 rural settlements 70 settlements are covered with the required facility of water supply as reported upto June 1997. Taluka-wise details of uncovered settlements and their quality of water is given in table No.3.
8.7 For providing the water supply to uncovered rural settlements, 13 schemes are under implementation at the estimated cost of Rs.58.129 million during the current year i.e. 1997-98 leaving development gap of 279 uncovered villages, but according to criteria 48 additional settlements with brackish water will require water supply schemes on priority basis. Details of completed,on-going schemes and number of brackish water settlements (taluka wise) are given at table No.2 and 3.
8.8 A separate statement giving the Taluka-wise position of completed water supply schemes (year wise) and development gaps is given in table No.5.
RURAL DRAINAGE:
8.9 Drainage system in the rural areas of Sindh under the prescribed criteria is provided for "A rural settlement with population 1000 & above preferable having water system". Presently out of total 362 rural settlements, 94 settlements have been covered by the drainage facility. Under first category, 135 rural settlements having population 2000 and above, 42 settlements are facilitated by the drainage facility. In second category, only 14 settlements out of 65 have been covered with drainage and thirdly. Out of the remaining 162 rural settlements 38 settlements are having the facility of drainage system. Taluka wise detail of completed drainage schemes are given in table No.4. 8.10 For providing the Rural Drainage facility to the uncovered rural settlements another 23 schemes are under implementation with the estimated cost of Rs.125.776 million during the current year (i.e.1997-98), leaving a development gap of 245 rural settlements. The details of taluka wise completed, on-going schemes and uncovered settlements are given in table 2 & 4. 8.11 A separate statement giving the Taluka-wise position of completed drainage scheme (year wise) and development gaps is given in table No.6.

FACILITIES PROVIDED THROUGH RURAL DEVELOPMENT DEPARTMENT.

8.12 More than 86% population of rural Sindh resides in villages upto 1000 population. Rural Development Department, Govt. of Sindh has been charged with the responsibility of providing Water Supply and Sanitation facilities in these settlements. Presently, it executes two Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Projects funded by the World Bank and UNICEF respectively. Through these projects, potable water is provided by installing hand pumps while Sanitation facilities are provided by constructing household latrines, and hygiene Education in villages having population of upto one thousand souls.
8.13 In District Larkana there are a number of 2581 villages with population upto 1000. Rural Development Department has so far provided 1261 water supply Schemes through hand pumps in 317 villages and covered 0.175 million population. This leaves the development gap of a large number of small settlements i.e. 2264 villages where this facility is yet to be provided. Taluka wise details are given at table No.7.
8.14 The Rural Development Department has also helped in forming effective Village Organisation to function collectively and carry forward the participatory development approach. The concept is that by using both local and external resources and working together, the development of the villages can take place. In sanitation, households contribute more than the government share. The Rural Development Department component of this project has adopted bold initiatives in Community Participation and Co-ordination with other institutions (government and non-government) to bring a range of services to project villages.
8.15 The project has following components:-
1. Community Development. 2. Health Development. 3. Water Supply. 4. Sanitation. 5. District Co-ordination Committees. 6. Training. 7. Institutional Strengthening. 8. Documentation.
8.16 Under the two projects aided by World Bank and UNICEF, village Organisations are formed. The hand pumps and sanitation schemes are operated and maintained by the communities.
POLICY ISSUES/OPTIONS:
8.17 In most of the urban areas the problem is more of inadequate and inefficient distribution rather than that of water supply availability. Attention should there fore be focused on a better distribution system alongwith an augmentation of suppers.
8.18 In case of sewerage and drainage, the situation is much worse and is aggravated by the expansion of water supply facilities. Provision of sewerage & drainage disposal facilities has therefore to match the programme of water supply.
8.19 Priority should be given to those areas where sweet ground water is not available at a reasonable depth and where water has to be fetched from distance.( Details are given in Table No.3) Similarly, Special consideration has to be given to areas where the rural population presently relies on surface water which is unfit for human consumption.
8.20 In areas where people have installed their own hand pump, priority should be given to sanitational disposal schemes. Piped water supply system is to be restricted to bigger village with a population ranging from 3000 to 5000. Hand pumps are being provided to smaller villages and initial delivery systems should be based on community stand-post and storage tanks.
8.21 Piped water-supply should be provided only at places where underground water is brackish, but here also the quality of material used and the workmanship must be improved. Frequent water leakages due to use of sub-standard pipes and defective implementation of schemes have created further problems through collection of water in the residential areas and damages of the buildings.
8.22 Water-supply through the implementation of water-supply schemes needs to be monitored regularly to ensure that the water is fit for human consumption. This is desirable specially because the water-supply schemes in Sindh do not provide for the filtration or chlorination process. Long-term effect of such water on health of the people needs to be studied.
8.23 Top priority be assigned to the sanitary disposal of sewage and waste-water which has collected in the form of stinking ponds in the vicinity of the towns and the larger rural settlements. The sewage so collected can neither be disposed off through land treatment (since it may cause soil sickness) nor it could be pumped into the flowing canals due to the fear of water pollution. The sewage ponds give rise to mosquito breeding and are likely to pollute the subsoil water which is the source of drinking water in this area. As such the top priority/attention should be given to solve this problem. The sewage could be treated in the oxidation ponds or in the digesting chambers. It would then be easy to dispose off the treated water into the flowing canals.
8.24 The Public Health Engineering Department (PHED)is responsible for planning, designing and construction of Water Supply Schemes in the province essentially in the larger villages having population of 1000 and above as per prescribed criteria. Sanitation/Drainage schemes are also provided by PHED in villages above 1000 persons where water supply schemes have been already provided. Details of such villages already covered/uncovered through drainage may be seen in table No.4.
8.25 Normally after completion of the schemes Public Health Engineering Department used to hand over the completed schemes to the local councils for operation and maintenance who under took maintenance task with great reluctance due to their unsound financial position, lack of technical know-how and doubts about the quality of construction work of completed schemes. As a result most of the completed schemes are poorly maintained by local councils and are either being partly run or closed down without any public utility.
8.26 Present Government has launched the Social Action Programme (SAP) in the Country which aims to improve the quality of life particularly in rural areas by providing basic amenities, such as, primary education, health care, safe drinking water and sanitation.
8.27 The Provincial Government has adopted a "unified policy" which imbibes the community to take operation and Maintenance of Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Schemes on sustainable basis and as such has decided the following measures:-
(a) That all the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme will be dealt on Community basis.
(b) The Community will be motivated to form village development organisations (VDOS) which will closely associated with the implementation of the schemes at all stages and the completed schemes will be taken over by them for O/M and Management.
(c) In view of unsatisfactory financial conditions of most of the rural communities, it has been decided by the Present Government to provide cost of electricity and non routine maintenance, whereas "Community" will bear the cost of engaging operators/personnel and routine maintenance through recovery of user charges from the consumers.