Rafiullah Mandokhail
ZHOB: The district that also falls in the ‘monsoon’ range has not received rain since a long time. The prolonged dry spell and weather change have led to a significant increase in dust allergy, cough, chest and throat infections, especially among children and infants.
Both the public and private hospitals are packed with patients suffering from flu, coughing, sneezing, high fever and chest congestions. At civil hospital the doctors say that they examine hundreds of patients including women and children on daily basis, suffering from throat infections and dry cough.
Dr. Saba Khan Mandokhail, a pediatrician at the district headquarters civil hospital says, the current weather change and sudden fall in the temperature causing dry cough, fever, sour throat and chest infections, adding the influx of patients continued to increase with each passing day as most of the patients visiting the hospitals and private clinics complained of cold related diseases. “The weather is in a transition phase, it contributes to the transmission of viral infections. The parents should keep their children warm and make sure their head, neck and hands are fully covered,” the specialist advises.
Moreover, the dry spell has also caused water shortage in many urban and rural areas here. The district is a producer of garlic besides seasonal fruit and vegetables. Over fifty percent of agriculture land depends on rainwater. In many villages wheat cultivated area is rain-fed (Wuchoba). The dry spell could therefore have a negative impact on the crops yield and losses to the growers.
