Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
ZN Baloch
Gwadar the emerging port city of Pakistan it is now in the spotlight because of the CPEC (China Pakistan Economic Corridor) but it is a pity that even with so much attention Gwadar has recently received, Gwadar city is facing a growing water crisis, leaving 100,000 people with no access to water.
The inhabitants are compelled to pay for a basic necessity – drinking water. This is not the first time that the city is undergoing a crisis but it has been several years that Gwadar and the surrounding areas of Balochistan are facing severe water crisis in six years.
The city’s population is growing because of several development projects. The crisis will become more severe if necessary measures aren’t taken on time. People are badly suffering by the shortages of water and by carrying buckets of water from miles away.
Most of the reports have been explain the scarcity as a result of drought, however, the actual factor behind the current crisis is bad governance. It is a tragic that the provincial government and federal government are spending millions on constructing motorways but they seem not interested to solve the water shortage.
The government installed several desalination plants but none is functional to data. Gwadar is left at the mercy of the tanker mafia which cannot meet the requirement of the city and the citizens are compel to . There are usually big claims about making the city modern but actually we are deprived of our basic necessities. To resolve the water crisis in Gwadar the government has to install effective desalination plants and resolve the acute shortages of water.
Published in The Balochistan Point on April 28, 2018
