Pakistan: Balochistan's Quetta facing severe water crisis

Quetta, July 22 (AHN) Quetta, the capital and largest city of the Pakistani province of Balochistan, has been facing a severe water crisis with groundwater levels dropping to dangerously low levels and official supplies from the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) either completely stopped or severely restricted in many residential areas, local media reported on Wednesday.

Residents of areas, including Sariab, Sirki Road, Samungli Road, Jinnah Town, Qambarani Road, Satellite Town, Sabzal Road, and Khayaban-e-Agha, are facing problems due to water shortage. Elderly people, women and young children in Quetta are forced to travel long distances on foot to fetch water, Pakistan's leading daily The Express Tribune reported.

Many houses in Quetta have received no tap water for the past six months, severely affecting the routine life. Speaking to The Express Tribune, residents of Quetta said that they don't receive water despite paying their WASA bills regularly. The issue has not been resolved despite multiple complaints from residents, with officials only providing verbal assurances.

On July 18, the water dispute between Pakistan's provinces of Sindh and Balochistan escalated as three Balochistan ministers participated in a farmers' protest at Sukkur Barrage, accusing Sindh of diverting their allocated share of water and stressed that farmers are facing financial stress due to prolonged shortages.

The ministers called on the Sindh government to act against what they termed as the theft of Balochistan's water share through unauthorised channels in Sindh. Farmers from several parts of Larkana division and their counterparts from Balochistan held protest over the alleged water shortages.

Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfaraz Bugti has formed a committee comprising ministers Muhammad Sadiq Umrani, Saleem Ahmed Khoso and Muhammad Khan Lehri, to raise water concerns of the province with the Sindh government.

Speaking to protesters, Muhammad Sadiq Umrani said Balochistan wanted its water share to be ensured under the 1991 Water Accord and said that the province was not getting its allocated share of 2400 cusecs from Khirthar Canal and 6700 cusecs from Pat Feeder.

Umrani said that farmers were getting severely impacted in Balochistan as they were not able to get water at crucial crop sowing periods, which will lead to financial losses, The Express Tribune reported.

Saleem Ahmed Khoso said Sindh Irrigation officials had claimed that Balochistan was getting more water than its allocated share, however, the committee rejected this claim. He said that ground realities showed a shortage of water and stated that Balochistan wanted a permanent solution to the issue so that it does not lead to repeated protests each year.