Prolonged dry spells in Balochistan because of climate change is exacerbating water shortage. With no rainfall to replenish its groundwater that is rapidly declining and daily rise in population, families in Quetta face an everyday struggle for water. Some are forced to travel far to fetch water or rely on expensive water tankers.
In Nasirabad division, climate crisis is marked by frequent and intense floods that has displaced entire populations from their villages, leaving them without any resources to rebuild their lives. To add to their woes, water is scarce. They are forced to send children to distant places to obtain water.
Climate change in Makran division has had negative repercussions on its ancient karez irrigation system. Its date farmers relied on these water-channels to irrigate their vast date farms. But with most karez devoid of water, date production has declined and farmers have migrated to cities.
Unaffordable tankers
For people in several parts of the province, such as its capital, Quetta, access to water is a daily struggle. With groundwater falling in the city by two to five metres annually, residents are forced to leave their homes to fetch water from outside or rely on expensive water tankers.
In June, a group of women and children holding pots and plastic jerry-cans, gathered in front of a house in Baloch Colony on Brewery Road. “My father works as a labourer and we can’t afford to buy water from a tanker in these days of high inflation,” said Fareedullah, a teenager in the group. “A water tanker costs over Rs2,000.”
Abdul Malik Sumalani, supplies water by tankers to Baloch Colony homes. He said he charged Rs2,300 from each house for a single tanker containing 1,400 gallons of water. “I take orders in advance as I have many customers.”
One of his clients is Basheer Ahmad who lives with his family on a rented portion of the first floor of a house. His landlord and their family reside below. “Our two families buy water from a tanker every week, otherwise we would have no water,” he said.
Moreover, the price of water from a tanker often fluctuates in Quetta, depending on where you live, said Manzoor Baloch, a resident of A-One City Housing Society, who purchased it for Rs2,500. “Entire city is dependent on water tankers,” he added.
With fuel prices skyrocketing globally due to US-Israel attack on Iran on February 28, overnight the price of a water tanker increased. “It’s now Rs3,000 due to high fuel prices in Pakistan,” said Sumalani.
Water strain causes
Before the arrival of the British, Quetta was a small village. The British established it as a garrison town, calling it “Little London” for its scenic beauty and pleasant weather. But it was flattened in 1935 in a deadly earthquake in which unofficially 60,000 perished.
After the 1935 earthquake, Quetta was designed as a township for 50,000 to 80,000 people. Currently, Quetta’s population stands at a staggering 2,595,492 or roughly over two and a half million people.
“Every day, Balochistan’s population rises to 1,200,” said Dr Maqsood Ahmad, assistant professor at the environmental sciences department in the Balochistan University of Information Technology.
Besides overpopulation, urbanization and housing schemes are straining Quetta’s water resources, impacting urban green spaces and agricultural land, he added.
According to Dr Ahmad, Balochistan is in the throes of climate change, with remarkable decrease
in rain and shifting weather patterns. “For instance, November weather is now experienced in December.”
Waterlogged yet waterless
On the one hand, Balochistan experiences prolonged dry spells. And on the other, intense floods with an ironic twist that water for daily use is scarce.
Like Nasirabad division in south-eastern Balochistan. Often referred to as the Green Belt or agriculture hub of the province, Nasirabad has been severely impacted by frequent floods, four in the past two decades. Yet, for its flood victims, water is unavailable.
“I and my family are still vulnerable after the 2022 floods in Nasirabad,” said Mohammad Javed, a father of three. “When the floods overtook our houses, the government gave us rations but only for some weeks. Then we were abandoned. We continue to live in a hut, far away from our ancestral village. We don’t have water at home. We send our children daily to bring water from a distant place.”
Flooding is the biggest problem in Nasirabad. Water is all around yet there is water shortage, according to Zaheer Ahmed Baloch, a climate activist working with indigenous farming communities in Balochistan. “Floods flush out entire populations, forcing them to abandon their villages and without any resources to sustain their future lives.”
Balochistan is dependent on Sindh province to meets its water needs transported through several canals such as the Kirthar canal (main canal connecting Sindh and Baluchistan), Pat Feeder canal (largest irrigation project in Balochistan), Rabi canal and Kachhi canal for irrigating lands in Nasirabad.
“There are natural water channels in Balochistan, but mega projects have blocked their natural flow. This is why Nasirababad always gets inundated. For all of my 30 years I have always seen floods here,” said Zaheer Ahmed Baloch.
Ancient irrigation & date farmers
The climate crisis in Balochistan has had an adverse impact on its karez irrigation system. Karez is an ancient system of human-made underground channel that passively taps the groundwater, conveys it by gravity from the mountains to the villages at the valley floor with minimum evaporation. These structures are also found in the Middle East, Spain, North Africa and Japan.
Nowhere has its impact been felt than in Balochistan’s Makran division that has vast date farms because of its naturally suitable climate for date cultivation. Known for its good quality of dates, forty percent of Pakistan’s dates are produced in the districts of Kech and Panjgur in Makran division.
Salal Baloch now lives in Turbat city in Makran. Earlier he used to live in Kech’s interior areas, where he earned well from his date farm. “I would water my date farm from the karezes. Then they dried up and I struggled to water them. I was left with no choice. I had to migrate to Turbat.”
According to Dr Shabbir Rind Baloch, author of Karezat-e-Makran: Aabpashi ka qadeem nizam (Makran’s Karez: an ancient system of irrigation) there were 287 karez in Kech and 165 in Pangur in 1988. “But now, only 70 are functional in Kech and less than 10 in Panjgur. Since the karez have dried up due to climate change, date production in Makran has also greatly reduced.”
Praying for rain
Until recently in village Haji Saleh Mohammad Mengal, situated in Balochistan’s drought-hit Nushki district, there were 27 houses with a population of 202. Now only two houses remain. One of which belongs to Israr Mengal.
“Everyone left because of prolonged dry spells,” he said. He and his family didn’t migrate because as the head of the village he was obligated to stay back.
However, he is hopeful. Rains are returning which he considers a good omen for his village. “We are praying for more rain. Two families have returned. If it continues to rain, I think we will be able to cope with the water shortage.”