Deprived of basic facilities, people across the suburbs of Balochistan’s Dera Bugti district cannot remember when they last had access to clean drinking water.
Facing the worst shortage in over two decades while the authorities concerned bat no eye, residents of Habib Rani and Pattokh have been dependent on rivulets and puddles of muddy water for daily use.
In a video making rounds over the internet, the locals of the area can be seen fighting as they struggle to collect water from what appears to be a fresh water source.
Speaking to Pakistan Today, one of the protesters said that their representatives had failed them.
He also said that as many as five gas fields were operating in Dera Bugti, but locals, including him, neither had gas, water or electricity.
Azam also complained of lack of hospitals and schools in the area.
Inevitably, generations of families across the suburbs of the country’s largest province by area have been affected by water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera and more.
It merits mention that in Balochistan, annual precipitation ranges from 50 to 500mm.
Locals have to walk miles to fetch one container of water to meet their daily needs.
He also expressed the hope that by nurturing relations with the federal government, the long-lasting issues of Balochistan could finally be resolved.