Jiwani is a town located approximately 59 kilometers west of the Gawadar district. Despite being a large borough, it still lacks clean drinking water.
The town’s ongoing water crisis is not a new issue, but rather a long-standing one. Importantly, its new ferocity has put residents in a bind because water is a basic need of every human being; without it, one may not even survive a day.
Besides that, the town receives water from the Hankara dam via pipelines, but villages such as Paleri, Pishukhan, and ten other villages also receive water from the same pipeline. Because the pipeline is getting old, it can’t pump enough water, leaving most of the villages thirsty.
The Balochistan government has given the area a 93-crore water rehabilitation scheme, which people want to start as soon as possible. However, they require a temporary solution until the scheme is completed.
Aside from that, Jiwani has a history with this issue. When the indigenous peoples of Jiwani protested the water crisis in 1987, they did so in the form of a rally, which was their constitutional right.
However, the ruthless police crushed traditional norms and opened fire on innocent women and children, Ghulam Nabi, along with two women, Yasmeen and Hizghul, embraced martyrdom. But the issue remained unresolved, and it has now gained a foothold.
Moreover, the troubled town is the tehsil of Gawadar, which is considered to be Pakistan’s commercial hub, but it saddens me to bring it to your attention that the city, as well as its associated area, which includes the four tehsils, appears to lack very basic facilities.
Water, educational institutions, employment, infirmary, and so on are examples of issues that the government has failed to address.
Sana Ullah Dashti
Kech