Resources Khuzdar
Although Khuzdar district was bifurcated into Khuzdar and Awaran districts in 1992, reliable land use statistics for Khuzdar district over recent years are not available. In this situation any comment on land use is impossible. However, it seems that potential area available for cultivation is considerably small. Most of the area is not reported and arable land is a small proportion of the reported land. The total area of the old Khuzdar district, before bifurcation, was 6,489,100 hectares. After bifurcation into Khuzdar and Awaran, the statistics of the Board of Revenue give Khuzdar an area of 4,326,100 hectares and Awaran 2,163,000 hectares. However the geographical maps seem to indicate that both districts are of about equal size.
|
Land use 1994-95 |
Area (Ha.) |
% of total district area |
|
|
Total Geographical Area |
4,326,100 |
100 |
|
|
Area not Reported |
2,370,098 |
54.8 |
|
|
Area Reported |
1,956,002 |
45.2 |
|
|
- Area not available for cultivation |
1,529,100 |
35.3 |
|
|
- Area under forest |
118,533 |
2.7 |
|
|
- Area under permanent pasture |
38,228 |
0.9 |
|
|
Area under water logging/salinity |
33,980 |
0.8 |
|
|
- Culturable waste |
32,281 |
0.8 |
|
|
- Arable land |
203,880 |
4.7 |
|
|
Potential area available for cultivation |
236,161 |
5.5 |
|
|
Source: |
Irrigation Department, GoB; area under forest is reported by the Chief Conservator Forest, Khuzdar |
||
A major drawback for obtaining a proper view on the resources of the district is the fact that essential statistics, as the classification of land (and also agricultural production), are still not separately available for Khuzdar. Even after the bifurcation into Khuzdar and Awaran, it is still one of the biggest districts inn the province with about an average density of population.
The soils inn Khuzdar are in general fertile and seem especially suitable for wheat, fruit and vegetables. Minerals are present and the mining of them is expanding. The district has no piped gas. Wood, bushes and dung-cakes are the main energy sources for cooking. In urban areas gas cylinders are used.
Pollution is not yet a major problem. The rate of cutting of wood is a source of concern.