KARACHI:
Jiwani is a small town of Balochistan located 70 km east of Gwadar. It is one of the four tehsils of district Gwadar. The tehsil still lacks almost all basic facilities, but lack of water is a perennial issue too serious to bear with. When the people of Jiwani wake up, their first and foremost job is to start searching for water.
The resident of this coastal town have been fighting this crisis for years and years. They have at times blocked the coastal highway in protest, and even lost precious lives in their pursuit, but to no avail as yet. In 1978, when the residents of Jiwani staged a rally in the main bazaar, the forces opened fire at the protesters and killed three of them, including a woman named Yasmeen. The problem, however, persists as it was years back.
The town has been receiving water from Ankara Dam via pipelines, but these pipelines are as old as this problem. The water flow is too slow to reach the tail-end. To add to the problem, the population is increasing rapidly and the need for water is also growing. Purchasing water from tankers is one option, but a majority of Jiwani’s population is living below the poverty line and cannot afford to pay for water.
In 2021, it had reported in the media that the Balochistan government had approved 93 crore rupees to build new dams and lay new pipelines to tackle the issue of water shortage in the town, but the work has not started yet. I, on behalf of the citizens of Jiwani, request the provincial government to start this work as soon as possible. Jiwani doesn’t want to lose more lives to the water crisis.
Waseem Saleem
Gwadar Balochistan
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2022.
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