Residents of Turbat city are yet to see the closest of the development other cities of the country have witnessed
TURBAT: Residents of Turbat city are yet to see the closest of the development other cities of the country have witnessed. With little electricity, Turbat still fares low on the development graph. According to a former chief minister of Balochistan, Dr Abdul Malik Baloch, his government has turned Turbat into a model city. However, this model city has highly insufficient electricity supply and internet connectivity also is weak.
There are several reasons why there is little electricity in Turbat. For instance, there are only a few power plants in Balochistan province, and they are not producing enough electricity to supply to major areas of the province like Gwadar — an emerging business hub of Pakistan. The electricity available in these areas is being imported from Iran, especially for Makran region. Despite this there is an abundance of illegal connections across the province that worsens the situation.
Internet, too, is as a basic necessity these days, where it has become even more important to be aware of the happenings all around. Residents face disruption and connectivity issues. A professor from Turbat University once told me, “We live in a city which even witnesses loadshedding on internet.”
I request the federal and provincial governments to work on these two major problems in Balochistan. The province has already suffered a lot due to neglect by the government. It is time that those who mattered put their differences aside and worked for the development of the much-neglected region of the country.
Zubair Barkat
Published in The Express Tribune, July 15th, 2018.
Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.
