Naliant problems

Letter September 09, 2021
Naliant problems

KARACHI:

Naliant is a village of Tehsil Pasni in the district of Gwadar. The village is inhabited by approximately seven thousand residents who lack access to necessities as basic as water. The adjacent Sawad Dam has been supplying water to Gwadar, however, there is no direct pipeline that can supply water to Naliant. Considering that water is crucial for human survival, the residents of Naliant are vulnerable. Naliant has experienced a prolonged period of water shortage due to drought. Many people have raised their concerns about the issue with several politicians but the crisis continues to persist.

During Chief Minister Dr Abdul Malik Baloch’s tenure, the people of Naliant and other areas of Gwadar district were supplied water through tankers, all paid by the government. Now, residents of Naliant purchase water by themselves. Each tanker costs them Rs3,500 to Rs4,000. The water purchased through tankers only lasts a maximum of ten days. Most of the people cannot afford water tankers at all. In addition, the people of Naliant earn their livelihood by fishing in the Baloch Sea. However, illegal trawlers are now threatening local fisherman. Poverty, illiteracy and unemployment further adds to the misery of the people of Naliant. This has created a considerable sense of frustration and distress amongst the people.

In recent weeks, however, there have been much protests over shortage of water in the Gwadar district. I request the relevant authorities to take stringent and pragmatic measures to supply water to Naliant from the Sawad Dam, which is their basic human right. The government needs to make sure that the needs of the locals are fulfilled before water to distributed to other localities. Unfortunately, such problems persist all across the province of Balochistan and people continue to suffer from mismanagement and corruption.

Nawaz Ellahi

Turbat

Published in The Express Tribune, September 9th, 2021.

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