QUETTA – *Quetta is going dry and the governments, both provincial andfederal, are not doing enough to save it.*
Recently, the Pakistan Metrological Department warned that nine cities inBalochistan — Quetta, Dalbandin, Nok Kundi, Gwadar, Panjgur, Pasni, Ormara,Turbat and Jiwani — are at risk of drought because they didn’t receiveenough rain.
This, coupled with the bloating population, is putting even more pressureon the city’s fragile ecosystem.
More than three million people live in Quetta. The problem is that the cityonly has facilities for 250,000 people. It needs around 50 million gallonsof water a day but only gets 30 million gallons.
To overcome this shortage, the Balochistan Water and Sanitation Authorityhas built 400 tubewells in the city to suck water out of the ground. But100 of them aren’t working.
The Public Health Engineering Department has also built hundreds oftubewells. There are also 5,000 illegal tubewells operating in the city.
As a result, the groundwater level has lowered to an alarming degree.Experts say that this has led to the city sinking 10cm.
“If the groundwater level is not increased, this will lead the people ofQuetta towards mass suicide,” remarked geologist Din Muhammad Kakkar.
Kakkar, who teaches at Balochistan University, said that illegal drillingand building tubewells is what started the “disaster”.
As the water level is going down, cracks have started appearing on theground in different places, he explained. “People thought that tubewellswould solve their problems, but they didn’t realise that it made thesituation worse,” Kakkar remarked.
He said that if the government fails to take any concrete steps and make aproper policy, Quetta will become a desert.
*Is the Mangi dam the solution?*
All eyes are on the Mangi dam to solve the impending water apocalypse inQuetta. But Kakkar believes that it won’t be enough.
The dam will be able to provide only 8.1 million gallons of water. It doesnot have the capacity to provide enough water for three million people, hesaid.
The province needs more dams to meet its water demand. Projects such as theGhazaband dam have been delayed because local residents aren’t sure theywant it. The government needs to resolve their issues, said Kakkar.
After coming into power, Balochistan Chief Minister Jam Kamal imposed awater emergency in the province.