GWADAR: Considered to be the backbone of the China-Pakistan Economic

Corridor (CPEC), Gwadar has been in the grip of a water crisis over the last
several years. Owing to the neglect of the provincial government, residents of
Gwadar are compelled to collect water from distant areas of the district.
Gwadar residents say many people have left the port city because of the water
crisis.

The major source of water in Gwadar is rainwater, collected and stored in the
Ankara Daur dam. Completed in 1993, the dam was built at a time when
Gwadar’s population was far smaller than it is today. This is why the port city’s
reservoir is not enough to serve the needs of the current population of the
district. Sometimes, due to long drought spells, the reservoir dries up. There is
no other source of drinking water for the Gwadar people than the Ankara Daur
dam.

“In Gwadar, we get water supply at home after four or five days. Usually, we
buy well water from donkey cart operators. Sometimes, our women have to go
from door to door to seek even a bucketful of water,” says Mohammad Ilyas
Baloch, a resident of the port city.

“Those who can afford it buy water from tanker operators, but that is too
expensive for a majority of the population.”

Local newspapers often report government officials and politicians saying that
they are trying their best to overcome Gwadar’s water crisis. Because of the
CPEC, they say, the strategic importance of Gwadar has increased manifold,
which is why they will leave no stone unturned for Gwadar people’s well-being,
and resolving the water issue is their top priority.

Speaking to Dawn, Mariyam Suleman, a local social scientist, says: “During

retired General Pervez Musharraf’s regime the Mirani dam, about 150
kilometres from Gwadar city, was constructed to overcome the city’s water
crisis. It only needs laying pipeline to supply water to the city, but this
government is not doing even that much. Several meetings of the relevant
committees were held during the acute water shortage we faced this year as
well as in 2012. But once it rains, and the water crisis eases, everything fades
into oblivion and there is no proper planning for a lasting water supply. Of
course, the Ankara Daur dam alone cannot fulfil the people’s water needs.”

Talking to Dawn, Siddique Baloch, a senior journalist who has exhaustively

written on the Gwadar port project, says there are 360 seasonal rivers in
Makran and five big rivers in its nearby coastal areas. This means there are
many potential new sources of water to alleviate the current crisis in Gwadar in
particular and Makran in general, provided the government builds necessary
storage facilities on them.
“Iran’s Chabahar Port, some 72km from Gwadar, does not face any water
crisis,” says Baloch. “The reason for this is that, unlike our government, they
overcame the water crisis by working on it. But we, despite having potential
sources for water, seem uninterested in resolving the water crisis in Gwadar.”

Answering a question, Suleman says: “I do not personally see any progress

being made by the government in resolving the water crisis. In 2012, when
Gwadar was severely hit by this crisis, government officials had vowed to
resolve it. Later on, they merely made committees and did nothing tangible.
This is why the port city is facing a water issue today.

“However,” she recalls, “I do hear about the Sawad dam, which has been in
progress for several years [If completed, the dam will be nearer to Gwadar than
the Mirani dam]. The dam was expected to be completed by 2014, but there are
no signs of its completion soon.”

Dr Shahid Ahmad, an expert on water affairs and author of several papers on

the water crisis in Gwadar, says: “First, water can be brought to Gwadar from
the Mirani dam, which is situated in the neighbouring district of Kech. But
before that, we have to keep in mind the following questions: how to deal with
the local people who have preferential right on the water? Will they allow it? If
they allow it, what will be their conditions for it? These questions and conflicts
need to be addressed by the government before bringing water from there [the
Mirani dam] to Gwadar.”

Secondly, he says, there are several feasible sites around Gwadar where dams
can be built, as well as the existing ones improved, if the government takes due
interest in it.

Thirdly, another option the government can explore is desalinisation of

seawater. However, he says, the government cannot do this alone. Instead, the
government should install and lease desalination plants to the private sector
for better functioning and to ensure that Gwadar’s water problem is solved
permanently.

Published in Dawn, September 2nd, 2016