Raising a voice: Gandapur tribe demands water from Gomal Zam Dam

Tribesmen block DI Khan-Tank Road in protest, seek resolution of grievances.


Zulfiqar Ali November 10, 2014

DI KHAN:


Traffic on DI Khan-Tank Road remained blocked for over an hour on Monday as hundreds of Gandapur tribesmen protested at Hathela Chowk demanding water for Kulachi tehsil from Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan.


Led by elders Ismail Khan Gandapur and Jilan Gandapur, the protesters blocked the main road chanting ‘We have right over Gomal Zam Dam’s water’.

While addressing the protesters, Ismail said the dam’s management and the DI Khan district administration are “under pressure” and Kulachi is not included in the dam’s water distribution plan. He demanded senior government officials intervene in the matter and ensure the supply of the essential commodity to the people of Kulachi.



In his speech, Jilan said Kulachi is facing a water shortage and its residents are forced to fetch it from distant places. “We will have no option but to migrate if water is not provided to us,” said Jilan, adding people in Kulachi remain neglected.

The demonstrators warned of widespread protests if their problem was not resolved.

The protest later ended peacefully after police officials negotiated with demonstrators and assured them their grievances would be conveyed to senior government officials.

Incidentally, on November 1, protesters from Tank district blocked DI Khan-Wana Road in protest against the distribution plan for the Gomal Zam Dam’s irrigation water. The protesters claimed that the dam’s water was being provided to Kulachi in DI Khan instead of Gomal Valley which is in closer proximity to the dam.

The Gomal tribe’s elders accused two MPAs from Kulachi of using their influence to divert water from the dam to Kulachi at the cost of Gomal’s farms.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 11th, 2014.

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