pakistan geographical review 1954 - University of the Punjab

coastal area round about Karachi humidity is high but it is confined to a smad
area and is much lower than is found in East Bengal. At Karachi the humidity
is 50% throughout the year, being more than 60% during the day and 80%
during the night in summer only.
Soils.
The soils of the two wings of Pakistan are also complementary in
nature and reveal very diverse profiles. The soils of West Pakistan generally
fall under' the group of Pedocals. Though these soils are characteristic of a
land with low and erratic rainfall, great extension of irrigation has made
their extensive use possible. They are generally quite fertile. There are,
however, certain areas which are suffering from injurious salts, a natural
corollary of irrigation and dry climate.
Soils of East Pakistan belong to the other category Pedalfers.
They are mostly Pedzolic or still new laterites. There are large
swampy areas. The effect of leaching is to a great extent neutralised
by the annual renewal of silt over vast areas at the time of floods.
Again while soil erosion is a great menace in many parts of West Pakistan
like that of the Potwar Plateau, there is no trouble of similar type in East
Pakistan on account of the fact that the ground is generally moist and plant
cover plentiful. But here we are faced with a different proposition. Rivers
frequently eat away their banks and desert their channels. Land Utilisation
problems here are, therefore, different from those in West Pakistan.
Vegetation.
The total estimated area of forests in Pakistan excluding the states is
about 14,500 sq. miles which is about 6.4 percent of the total area of the
country. Of this West Pakistan has only 1872 sq. miles under
forests. It works out to be abou t 3.2 percent of its total area. This percentage
rises to about 16.7 in East Pakistan. It will be seen that although. both the
western and eastern wings are deficient in forest resources, this deficiency is
very great in the west. East Pakistan has valuable timber and fuel wood
resources. Out of a total annual output of 92,57,782 c. ft. timber in Pakistan,
East Pakistan contributes 79,24, 000 c. ft. In addition it produces 1,34,20,900
c. ft. of fuel wood out of a. total of 3,14,30,460 c. ft. There IS quite
a good balance between timber and fuel wood. In West Pakistan the
production of timber is very inadequate and excluding Sind, even
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