GWADAR: A division bench of the Balochistan High Court in Turbat has directed officials concerned to brief it on the drinking water shortage in Gwadar and some other areas.

The bench comprising Justices Shakeel Ahmed Baloch and Hashim Khan Kakar was hearing a petition filed by Advocate Sabara Islam, inviting attention of the court to the problem of drinking water in the port city.

According to the petition, the Balochistan Development Authority (BDA) installed a desalination plant at a cost of Rs1 billion to produce two million gallon drinking water for Gwadar and some other areas. But, the plant was supplying only 300,000 gallon water. She said that the fish and other water species had entered the plant because a filter had not yet been installed there.

Vice Chairman of Balochistan Bar Council Qahir Shah, former vice chairman Abdul Hameed Baloch, presidents of the Kech, Panjgur and Gwadar Bar Associations Jardin Dashti, Allauddin and Saeed Faiz, respectively, and Abdul Majeed Dashti appeared before the court on behalf of the petitioner.

The superintendent of the Public Health Engineering, Makran circle, Haji Mohammad Aslam, informed the court about the water shortage in Gwadar and other areas and submitted some suggestions to solve the problem.

Water being supplied to Gwadar from Mirani dam and other sources came under discussion during the hearing. The court was also informed about the causes behind delay in the construction of Sud dam.

Published in Dawn, January 8th, 2016