The heart of
China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) struggles with thirst after years of
chronic water shortages and soaring rates of water-borne diseases.
As the regional hub of global trade network enters a new
phase of development, more people, and on-going construction work are using up
the scant water supply. Due to a shortage of clean water, one out of every
twenty-five citizens was treated at a health care facility for a water-borne
disease over a six-month period in 2017.
A Very Thirsty City
More than 263,500 people, or one in every
fifty people in Balochistan lives in Gwadar district. With hopes of economic
development, more people arrive in Gwadar looking for better opportunities. The
annual population growth rate of nearly three percent is expected to balloon
once port companies start hiring.
“The current demand for water in Gwadar is 6
million gallons per day (MGD), which will double to12 MGD in 2020,” Dr. Sajjad
Baloch, Director General of Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) explained.
For each citizen’s personal use alone, excluding industrial
and other water needs, the World Health Organization recommends 7.5 litres of clean water a day, which
for a city of a quarter million people, translated to .5 MGD, which most
citizens do not receive as the available water is contaminated.
“But this temporary solution of
trucking in water drains the
provincial budget and contributes to
the rise of water-borne diseases.
The recent water crisis began during the hot and humid month
of May 2017. Expected winter downpour never arrived and the nearest dam, Ankara
Kaur Dam, 25 km away, had already dried out: this time in less than six months.
The government has been trucking in water since then. But this temporary
solution drains the provincial budget and contributes to the rise of
water-borne diseases.
In early June, during Ramadan all political parties
protested, demanding permanent solution for a series of crises that had begun
in 2011. But days later, solution remained the same-trucking in water from Mirani
Dam, 150 km away from Gwadar in the neighboring district of Kech.
Instead of government supplying
water to citizens, the government outsourced to private companies. The
continuous scarcity since then has enormously benefited the tanker mafias – as
most citizens call them. Five months
later, in early November, the tanker mafias protested, claiming the government
had not paid them on time. They stopped the trucks to the city, holding
citizens hostage.
This further fueled the tension amongst the citizens and
with a media blackout in the province, the struggle over water persuaded the
citizens of Gwadar to protest in front of Karachi press club. Protesters
traveled 750 kilometers just to get enough media coverage.
But when this technique did not work, they blocked the
main Syed Hashmi Avenue (Fish-Harbour Road) and forced a city-wide strike to
protest the crisis and the tanker mafia. The same day, Prime Minister Shahid
Khaqan Abbasi visited Gwadar to inaugurate the newly constructed Marine Drive
road.
Struggles and protest over water are not new in
Balochistan. But these struggles in Gwadar have become a flashpoint amid rising
tensions among forces of economic globalization, ineffective governance and
growing poverty and inequality.
Dams, Dams Everywhere but No Water
“The water shortage creeped in as Gwadar became the focus of
attention for the people of the nearest villages, districts as well as for the
people of other provinces. The population kept growing after 2002 and with the
construction of port and other industrial projects, as water was massively
consumed, it became more and more scarce,” argued K.B Firaq a local activist.
Ankara Kaur Dam, the main source of water for more than half
the district’s population, has dried up completely because of low rainfall and
a massive build-up of silt during the 20 years since it was built. With an area
of 17, 000 acres Ankara Kaur Dam was constructed at a cost of Rs. 563 million
by NESPAK (National Engineering Services Pakistan) in 1995.
“In normal scenario, Ankara Dam provides 2.5 MGD
(million gallons per day) against the demand of 6 MGD. However, due to dry
spell in the region presently the dam is at dead level,” explained Dr. Sajjad.
He further added, “Last year two new dams were
completed, namely, Sawad and Shadi Kaur Dams. Mirani Dam was previously
completed and Belar Dam is small as compared to the rest. Sawad Dam is being
connected with Gwadar city, which will provide an additional 5 MGD. Within 6
months 60% of the work on the dam has been completed. It will be completed by
April subject to provision of funds by Federal Government. There is also a plan
to connect Shadi Kaur Dam through Chinese funding.
“Even if all these dams are connected
with the city, the major concern is
the decreasing rainfall in the region.
Even if all these dams are connected with the city, the major
concern is the decreasing rainfall in the region. During the last few years, it
had not rained enough and henceforth, the issue is expected to be more critical
if the rainfall shortages continue.
Some believe that due to climate change, dams will never be
able to meet the demands of the city. As a local geologist and assistant
director of irrigation department in Gwadar Pazeer Ahmed Baloch argued, “The
solution to the water crisis lies in the ocean. Hence desalination plants can
be permanent solution, which are today used in different parts of the world.”
The Slow, Costly Process of Desalination
In
an arid region where droughts are common, if the sea cannot entirely solve the
issue, it does at least promise a reliable alternative for partially quenching
the growing thirst. Although, desalted water is the most expensive form of
freshwater to produce, given the infrastructure costs of collection as well as
desalination and distribution, for places such as Gwadar, some feel they are
the most reliable solution.
“To
meet the drought conditions, the only solution is desalination plant, presently
we are struggling to get approval for a 5 MGD plant, but hopefully it will get
matured,” Dr. Sajjad explained.
“Each of the desalination plant was
installed at cost of
Rs.1 billion
A
few years ago, two desalination plants in Karwat and Koh-sar were completed by Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) and Industry and Commerce Department, but due to
design flaws, they never worked. “Each of the desalination plant was installed
at cost of Rs.1 billion,” says a local journalist Bahram Baloch and other media reports.
When the installation of machinery took longer than expected,
the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) launched an inquiry into the delay,
which was reported in the media, but that did not solve the issue and both
plants remain nonfunctional years after completion.
“Government of Balochistan decided to outsource the 2 MGD
desalination plant in Karwat to the private sector. Chinese company in Port is
also installing a desalination plant and it has offered government of Balochistan
to purchase water from it,” However, Dr. Sajjad adds, “The option of desalination
plant is 8-10 times more expensive than dam water.”
The Risky Quick-Fix of Trucking in Water
Amid ongoing development schemes in
the port city and struggle for water supply, citizens reply on privately owned water
tankers as their only source of potable water. Currently, water is trucked in from
Mirani Dam, 150 km way from Gwadar city. Although officials say there is enough
water in this dam to supply Gwadar for a few more months, the system is
massively inefficient compared to other systems such as government-run
aqueducts and pipes.
“Currently we have 360 regular tankers
and 45
trawler-tankers trucking in water
from
Mirani Dam at the cost of Rs. 17, 000 each.
“Currently we have 360 regular tankers and 45 trawler-tankers
trucking in water from Mirani Dam. But the number of tankers differ, sometimes
they are fewer and sometimes they're even more. Each of them is paid around
Rs.17,000,” explained Nisar Baloch an official in the Public Health Engineering
Department (PHE).
Out of
every ten rupees spent in overall Balochistan, less than a rupee is spent for
water provision during the crisis in Gwadar. If the crisis continues and government
does not find a cheaper solution, around half of the provisional budget will be
consumed to pay the tanker companies.
“Although,
trucking in water is risky and expensive, for the time-being, it is the only
way to provide water to the citizens,” says K.B Firaq.
However,
the Public Health Engineering Department has requested and received a
supplementary budget from the provincial government to handle the crises in
Gwadar.
“Additional Rs. 25 million is still
pending from the previous dues of the
tanker companies.
“Even with the supplementary funds,
the government is unable to pay the tanker mafia on time and therefore whenever
their payment is stopped, they do not provide water. They have been paid for
June to September but additional Rs. 25 million is still pending from the
previous dues. And therefore, they did not provide water for a few days last
month. And when they were promised by the government officials to be provided
with the previous dues and for the month of November, they reintegrated the
service,” explained Nisar Baloch
Poisoned
Water, Sick Citizens
“If you have money, you have clean drinking water. No money means no clean water to drink,” these were the words of the group of young girls fetching water from an open water tank in the Nayabad area of Gwadar. The girls estimate that their water consumption is less than half of the WHO recommended 7.5 litres a day and the water they do carry is not clean.
“If you have money, you have clean drinking water. No money means no clean water to drink,” these were the words of the group of young girls fetching water from an open water tank in the Nayabad area of Gwadar. The girls estimate that their water consumption is less than half of the WHO recommended 7.5 litres a day and the water they do carry is not clean.
This is
the current reality in the port city where one in every thirty patients who
visited Civil Hospital in November had diarrhea, according to Civil Hospital
data. Lack of hygiene caused by lack of access to clean water is the major
cause of diarrhea.
“Three in every 25 people living
in Gwadar has sought medical
care for water-borne diseases in the
last
six months
Previously
unreleased data by local health authorities reveals and
escalating crisis. According to the Civil Hospital officials, while water-borne
diseases have not yet become an epidemic but rates are beginning to spin out of
control. Three in every 25 people living in Gwadar has sought medical care for
water-borne diseases in the six months between June and November 2017 according
to PPHI.
Yunas
Hussain, a local healthcare specialist in civil hospital explained, “Different
health issues emerge with the use of the water being provided: firstly diarrhea
and then cholera, typhoid, dysentery, Guinea worm diseases, as well as
hepatitis and kidney problems. But since we do not have facilities to deal with
other water borne diseases, we can only treat diarrhea, typhoid or cholera.”
However, the PPHI data also shows cases of urinary tract infections and
hepatitis being reported in the local hospital during the last six months.
According
to the local citizens, ground water is the safest because it is naturally
filtered. Local geologist Pazeer Ahmed, who has been part of two major water
researches in the region, said that this is a dangerous myth. “We tested ground
water of different places in the district and the results showed that the
elements present in the water are higher in concentration than the World Health
Organization (WHO) permissible limits,” he explained. “With its continuous
consumption over a period, it can result in different chemical changes in human
body causing different diseases.”
In the
groundwater, the level of sodium is three times higher, potassium is 12 times
higher whereas sulfate is twice as high and nitrate is forty times higher than
the WHO permissible limits. These
elements may cause headaches, nausea, diarrhea, heart and kidney related
diseases if people continue using this water according to a 2016 study, “Impact of seawater intrusion on the groundwater of Gwadar
district, Balochistan”.
“In
2011, we conducted similar research studied samples of water from Ankara Kaur Dam,
which has been the sole source of water for the last twenty years. The
concentration of elements are higher than the WHO permissible limits, so the
results from Ankara Kaur dam were not satisfying either,” explained Pazeer
Ahmed.
Currently,
water being trucked in from Mirani Dam is not safe either. According to the
results of another study by Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial
Research (PCSIR) Laboratories Complex in Karachi, the water from Mirani Dam is
not safe for human consumption.
“People
who can afford it buy filtered water but since most of the population does not
have enough for other basic needs, paying for drinking water for large families
is far from thoughts,” said Abdul Ghafoor a local resident.
The
government only invests one in every ten rupees from the provincial budget in
public health even though the vast majority of the city relies on water sources
likely to make them ill.
Ineffective
Government Investment for a Huge Problem
The government’s track record for providing clean water makes many experts and citizens skeptical of the large-scale dams and desalination plants the government has in the works. The biggest dam is clogged with silt and dry. The dams that still have water are contaminated. The desalinization plants never did work. People are getting sicker every day.
The government’s track record for providing clean water makes many experts and citizens skeptical of the large-scale dams and desalination plants the government has in the works. The biggest dam is clogged with silt and dry. The dams that still have water are contaminated. The desalinization plants never did work. People are getting sicker every day.
“Out of every
10 rupees provided
through foreign aid, 8 are spent
for
water resource management
development projects.
“There is influx of funding but lack of interest to
permanently solve the issue,” says KB Firaq. Part of the problem may be a lack
of a centralized strategy for water provision, with the responsibility for
clean water distributed across various departments. According to government of
Balochistan budget for 2016-17, for every 10 rupees spent for provincial housing and
amenities, 2 are spent for public health engineering (responsible for water
provision); from every 10 rupees spent for public sector development 1 is spent
for water related development and out of every 10 rupees provided through
foreign aid, 8 are spent for water resource management development projects.
"Basically,
the foreign aid project aims at improving the irrigation system in the
province, but it also provides funding for potable water supply facilities to
the citizens," explained one the officers at provincial budget
department.
Water management in a mega-city like Gwadar did not have to
reach crisis levels if the funds had been managed effectively, according to
many local water experts. Pazeer Ahmed explained, “We have examples of
desalination plants working effectively for entire cities mainly nearest to us
are the gulf countries such as UAE and Saudi Arabia. They too have very arid
and dry weather with very little rainfall. Hence, desalination plants have
perfectly worked for them, if the rainfall has decreased, and dams do not
enough water, we can rely on desalination plants. In other words, the scarcity
of water is not driven by lack of water but lack of effective governance.”
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