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  • Quetta's Water Problems Escalating: Published: November 8, 2010

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    Torrential rains and hailstorms in Balochistan caused major losses of property and rendered many people homeless. Over 50 houses in Naushki and 12 in Chagai were swept away by floodwaters. Roads and highways were destroyed by flash floods, disrupting traffic between major cities. The rains also damaged houses, shops, and buildings in Quetta, with walls of some houses collapsing. Rescue efforts were underway but officials had not fully assessed all the damages caused by the heavy rains across Balochistan. The lack of water storage facilities in the province means rainwater drains into the Arabian Sea through seasonal rivers instead of being stored for cultivation.

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    Torrential rains and hailstorms in Balochistan caused major losses of property and rendered many people homeless. Over 50 houses in Naushki and 12 in Chagai were swept away by floodwaters. Roads and highways were destroyed by flash floods, disrupting traffic between major cities. The rains also damaged houses, shops, and buildings in Quetta, with walls of some houses collapsing. Rescue efforts were underway but officials had not fully assessed all the damages caused by the heavy rains across Balochistan. The lack of water storage facilities in the province means rainwater drains into the Arabian Sea through seasonal rivers instead of being stored for cultivation.

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    28 views3 pages

    Quetta's Water Problems Escalating: Published: November 8, 2010

    Uploaded by

    Zahid Khan Babai
    Torrential rains and hailstorms in Balochistan caused major losses of property and rendered many people homeless. Over 50 houses in Naushki and 12 in Chagai were swept away by floodwaters. Roads and highways were destroyed by flash floods, disrupting traffic between major cities. The rains also damaged houses, shops, and buildings in Quetta, with walls of some houses collapsing. Rescue efforts were underway but officials had not fully assessed all the damages caused by the heavy rains across Balochistan. The lack of water storage facilities in the province means rainwater drains into the Arabian Sea through seasonal rivers instead of being stored for cultivation.

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    Quetta’s water problems escalating

    Published: November 8, 2010

    Groundwater level declining, people finding it difficult to get drinking water.

    QUETTA: Quetta city’s water problem promises to spiral out of control unless swift action is taken by
    authorities: water requirements of only two-thirds of the population of the provincial capital are being met.
    The city’s people are forced to pay for water tanker services, paying Rs500-700 a day to meet their
    needs. Although it is not difficult for people who are well-off, poor people cannot afford them.
    A railway employee, who is a resident of Brewery Road, Saeed Ahmed, spends a considerable
    amount of time bringing water home on his bicycle. “Wasa provides water once a week. Because
    they make the people wait for water for five days if they provide water for just two hours,” Saeed,
    51, tells The Express Tribune.
    Saeed is not alone. The majority of Quetta’s 2.2 million residents suffer a similar fate.
    According to the Water and Sanitation Authority (Wasa) officials, the city requires 450 million
    gallons of water but the authority is only able to provide 300 million gallons. Officials claim to be
    working on the problem. “Two dams are being constructed to end Quetta’s water problems,” said an
    official.
    Talking to The Express Tribune, Chief Engineer Wasa Liaquat Ali Bugti says that the federal
    government had approved Rs8 billion to overcome the water shortage in Quetta and improve the
    drainage infrastructure.
    “The groundwater levels are declining rapidly every year,” he said, adding that they are probably
    decreasing by 10 to 15 feet every year. However, he hopes that the problem will be resolved after
    dams are constructed.
    However, there has not been any significant progress despite the allocation of so much money.
    On the one hand, the people of Quetta are suffering for want of drinking water and on the other;
    geoscientists are concerned over the rapidly declining groundwater levels in Quetta Valley.
    “So far, no effective steps have been taken to replenish groundwater in the valley,” says Abdul Razaq
    Khilji, Chairman of the Geoscientist Association.
    According to him, the water problem will be more severe in future if a proper conservation strategy
    is not adopted soon.
    Published in The Express Tribune, November 8 th, 2010.

    Torrential rains cause major losses


    in Balochistan
    by razaqkhankhilji on March 3, 2011

    Daily Times Thursday, March 03, 2011* Floodwater destroys houses, renders people homeless

    * Highways, roads destroyed because of flash floods

    By Mohammad Zafar

    Water Resources Management Senior Geologist Razzaq Khan Khilji said


    QUETTA: Major loss of property has been reported in Naushki,
    Chagai and Quetta following the torrential rains which were
    accompanied by a hailstorm. Quetta Division Commissioner,
    Naseem Lehri, confirmed that more than 50 houses had been
    swept away due to the rains and floodwater in Naushki, while
    12 more collapsed in Chagai, close to the Afghan border.The
    land route between Karachi to Quetta and Khuzdar to Shadat
    Kot remained disrupted for several hours due to landsliding
    and floods. Quetta and the adjoining areas received about 30
    millimetres of rain on Tuesday night, an official of the Met
    Office said on Wednesday, forecasting more rains across
    Balochistan during the next 24 hours. The heavy rains have
    wrecked havoc in the province by leaving dozens of people homeless. “Around 60 houses were washed
    away in Kili Zarin Ziarat in Naushki when the Dosay Band was broken by the heavy rains,” the Quetta
    Division commissioner said, adding that many houses and shops in Quetta had also been damaged. The
    Provincial Disaster Management Authority (PDMA) has dispatched 125 tents and blankets to Naushki for
    the victims. “Damage assessment is underway because it is a vast area and will take time to reach out to
    all the people, Lehri told Daily Times. The intermittent rains have been lashing Quetta and other areas for
    the past 20 days, and have caused heavy damages to the highways, roads, bridges and houses, he said.
    In Quetta, rainwater has seeped into houses and government buildings while walls of several houses
    have collapsed. “Suction pumps have been engaged to drain out water from the houses, shops and roads
    in Quetta,” Lehri said. He added that rescue work was underway in Quetta and adjoining areas. However,
    the commissioner said officials had not been able to assess the damages caused by the heavy showers.
    The Met official said that around 20 mud houses had been damaged in Killi Chagai in Chagai district. The
    rains have caused flash floods in the seasonal rivers and nullas in Mastung and Khuzdar districts, and in
    Mastung, a teenage boy, Khaliq Ahmed, was listed missing as a flash flood swept him away on
    Wednesday. In Khuzdar, the low-lying areas were submerged in rainwater and the highway between
    Khuzdar and Shadat Kot was blocked due to landsliding. The traffic between Quetta and Karachi was
    also disrupted for many hours as bridges and causeways were washed away in Mastung, some 50
    kilometres away from Quetta. Khuzdar Division Commissioner, Iqbal Ahmed Khosa, urged the National
    Highway Authority (NHA) to clear the Khuzdar-Sindh road and the road connecting Balochistan with
    upper Sindh and Punjab. Around 20 mud houses were damaged in Kili Abdul Sattar, as a result of which
    more than two dozen families were left homeless. The intermittent rains also lashed Wadh, Loralai,
    Pishin, and some other areas where losses of property were also reported. However, the provincial
    government said that rescue work had been expedited and all out efforts were being made to reach the
    victims.

    Water Resources Management Senior Geologist Razzaq Khan Khilji said rainwater was being
    drained out from the southern and eastern parts of Balochistan into the Arabian Sea through seasonal
    rivers in the absence of water storage facilities, which could bring a huge chunk of land under cultivation.

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