Engineer Zahid Qaisrani
Quetta was called little Paris for its beauty and weather. This city was destroyed by a most dangerous earthquake in May 1935 by killing 30,000-60,000 people. This city was rebuilt with a new vision for a population of 500,000 people. But now the estimated population of the city is more than 2,000,000. The people of capital city of Balochistan have serious concerns for their city. Out of different problems faced by people of Quetta, one is the shortage of water for drinking and agriculture purposes for the last two decades.
Water is the basic need for life as oxygen. Moreover a large number of people depend upon agriculture for their economics in Quetta. Fruit gardens are examples of dependency of people. Fresh water is going to be scarce every year and becoming the matter of life & death for the residents of the Quetta. Some cities and countries in the world situated near seas and oceans face fresh water problems due to salty characteristics of water, however in Quetta the case is opposite because the only source is underground water. Geographically, Quetta is surrounded by the mountains from all sides. So its case is different from other cities facing the same problem which may be as under.
First, we have to accept that no natural resource is unlimited and reserves of water in this city totally depend upon rainfall and snowfall during winter. These both are disturbed by global warming and to some extent the local climate change of the city is responsible for this. The second problem is over-population in Quetta, which increased demand of water in the city. Third, there is no check & balance in the city for tube wells, as a result the water table of Quetta city is decreasing to an alarming level every year. Fourth, no new dams are being construction around the city to store rain water for proper use and to recharge the aquifers of Quetta. And the last but not least, public should be aware of scarcity of water and other natural resources. This issue is as important as education, heath, law & order etc.
Government and public both should cooperate with each other to make the city “little Paris” once again by saving all natural resources as much as possible. This can attract the people towards this city nationally and internationally. We can make the city more attractive and beautiful than Paris and Tokyo if we all play our role to save it. Real change comes when it is started from the word “I” rather than word “you”. Demand and supply is balanced when we start caring about this issue collectively as well as individually. Water is life if it saved, and is source of death if didn’t care. Our religion also teaches us to protect environment and resources.
A few collective technical actions may solve this burning issue.
New dams should be constructed around the city (Ziarat cross, Hanna orak, Dasht etc.)
Number of tube wells should be limited in the city and government should provide clean and processed water to citizen.
Educational institutes should conduct seminars and public talks to create awareness about this serious issue.
Students and young people can play important role by selecting such practical issues in their final year projects at universities and should take responsibility to create awareness in their residential areas.
Electronic and print media can play its role actively by conducting talk shows and through their columns and articles respectively.
And this issue should not be politicised, as this is a problem of public interest.
Nothing is impossible, just positive concern and responsibility is required. “Where this is a will, there is a way”.
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