population lives in absolute poverty. Paid telecommunications services in Tharparkar are dominated by Pakistan Telecommunication Company Limited (PTCL), which has a monopoly on telecommunication in Pakistan. Water resources Access to drinking water in Tharparkar is very poor. Only 47% of the population has access to drinking water. Wells are crowded and their supply strained, as 60% of households wait more than an hour at wells for their turn, and 30% households spend more than Rs 30 for two buckets of water. 85% of households use akhaal (rubber bags carried by a camel or donkey) to carry water, while 25% use buckets carried by camel or donkey. In some areas, single journeys for water may take as long as two days. 75% of women travel an average 3 km per trip, spending 52% of their working hours fetching water. Sanitation Precise data on solid-waste management are unavailable but basic waste management is present in the urban parts of the district. However, rural areas, which host 96% of the district population, lack such facilities. 44% of households in Tharparkar have no toilets, the highest percentage of any district in Sindh. Electricity Despite supplying much of Pakistan's energy supply through its coal reserves, only 39% of Thari households use electricity as their main lighting supply, the lowest percentage of any district in Sindh. Irrigation As the district is mostly arid, its irrigation system is small. Only 1.6% of the district's cultivated land is irrigated, mostly in Diplo taluka by a tributary of the Naukot branch of Nara Canal. Irrigation is most extensive in Nagarparkar and Mithi, where much of the land is fed by tube wells. Fuel In Tharparkar, 99% of households use firewood as the main fuel supply for cooking. The deforestation resulting from large-scale firewood harvesting is a potential contributor to Tharparkar's drought issues. The second largest supply is gas, which 0.7% of households use. Most gas use is in Tharparkar's smaller urban communities. Gas infrastructure is poorly developed, and gas cylinder safety is questionable, which has led to some accidents. One common solution to gas safety problems used in Tharparkar is the Jugaad practice of placing a heavy object on top of a faulty valve, to prevent gas from leaking. Finance, banking and taxation Finance Tharparkar's importance to the Sindh and Pakistani economies is mostly based in its energy reserves and its status as the energy capital of Pakistan. During