Zeeshan Nasir
Gwadar is one of the emerging cities of Pakistan but it is a pity that Gwadar city is facing a growing water crisis, leaving 100,000 people with no access to clean drinking water. The inhabitants are compelled to buy expensive water, Rs. 11,000 to 15,000 per tanker, and the locals are resorted to boiling sea water for drinking purposes and this is the second time that Gwadar and the surrounding territories of Balochistan are facing severe water crisis in six years.
The city’s population is also flourishing due to the China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project and the crisis will become more severe until strong measures are taken immediately.
Women, children and the poor people have been badly hit by the shortage of water by carrying buckets and jars on their heads and even walk miles away to wash clothes.
Most of the reports claim that there was scarcity of rainfall last year perhaps that was the cause of drought, causing the dearth of water. However, the ruthless factors behind the current crisis must be clearly understood. For one, while all the residents of Gwadar are experiencing turmoil, they have also suffered from many years of bad governance.
Nonetheless, there are water shortages in the other districts of Balochistan. Neither there is dearth of pure water nor health problems. Then why all these shortages exist in Gwadar?
It is tragic that the provincial government and federal government are spending millions and even trillions on constructing motorways, corridors and underpasses. What is the problem if a few millions are spent to solve the water shortage in Gwadar.
The government installed a desalination plant at a whooping cost of Rs. 1 billion in the Kawat territory of Gwadar but it is yet to become functional and it does not have the capacity to purify the sea water to meet the water requirements.
But yet the provincial government has not learned a single lesson that about four years ago when the tanker mafia brought water from the distant places like Bilar dam some 80 km away from Gwadar and one gallon of water was sold for Rs. 1000.
Provincial government has abandoned the residents of Gwadar at the mercy of the tanker mafia which cannot meet the requirements of the city. There are usually big claims about making the city modern but actually people are deprived of basic necessities.
To resolve the water crisis in Gwadar the government should install big water plants and resolve the acute shortages of water.
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