Pakistan: Balochistan facing drought-like situation

Pakistan's green belt of Balochistan is facing a drought-like situation due to the unfair distribution of water from the Sindh province that even locals do not have water to drink and water their lands for their crops.

Pakistan's green belt of Balochistan is facing a drought-like situation due to the unfair distribution of water from the Sindh province that even locals do not have water to drink and water their lands for their crops. Over the decades, parts of the province have become barren owing to two reasons which include -- the Sindh government distributes water to Balochistan unfairly and secondly, within the province, the local landlords distribute water unjustly to the local farmers via canals, Dawn reported.

This resulted in a drought-like situation and many locals do not have water to drink, to water their lands in order to grow wheat and rice, among other things. Kirthar canal that supplies water to Gandakha area of Jafferabad district via Indus, has dried up, the Dawn said in its report.

According to locals, the 2007 floods in Balochistan wreaked havoc in terms of accumulating mud in the Kirthar canal and it has not been cleaned up to the current day. This is one of the reasons Gandakha is deprived of water for quite some time, it reported further. While in some places, locals and animals drink from the same source if they are lucky enough to find water. The water situation has pushed locals to fetch water from far-flung areas of Gandakha.

As a whole, Balochistan has been facing an acute water crisis. Gwadar, the emerging port town in the country and the epicentre of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor, too, faces a water shortage. Pakistan has seen disputes among provinces from time to time over the distribution of Indus River water. Researchers point at the lack of trust among the provinces as a major reason.

"Lack of trust among the provinces of Pakistan, especially between Sindh and Punjab and between Sindh and Balochistan, is the main cause of water disputes. Sindh always objects, as a lower riparian, about the withdrawal of the water from the upper canals by Punjab and objects that Punjab is using its water share. The groundwater salinity and the degradation of land in Sindh is more serious than in Punjab," reads a report by Pakistani researchers. The water shortage is going to increase feuds among these provinces and turn into a flashpoint for a major internal disturbance.(ANI)

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