Pakistan Sunni Tehreek’s Jaffarabad district chapter on Friday staged a protest demonstration outside the Quetta Press Club against the acute water shortage in the Balan Shakh area of Jaffarabad.
Addressing the protest, the speakers said the provincial government had completely failed to resolve the crisis, adding that the water shortage in the Pat Feeder Canal was clear evidence of its poor performance. They said that the Jaffarabad area of Balochistan was presenting “a scene of Karbala,” while Provincial Minister for Irrigation Mir Sadiq Umrani and MPA Majid Badini had failed to address the water crisis in the Balan Shakh area of Jaffarabad district.
The speakers alleged that corruption involving millions of rupees was taking place in the Balochistan Irrigation Department, adding that the authorities’ silence over the alleged corruption was beyond comprehension. They said the water shortage had put hundreds of thousands of people and livestock at risk. They further said that the recent excavation of the Pat Feeder Canal and its sub-branches remained incomplete and that water had yet to reach the tail-end branches. They called on the authorities to take immediate steps to resolve the water crisis in the Balan Shakh area of Jaffarabad.
The protest demonstration was addressed by Pakistan Sunni Tehreek Jaffarabad leader Nazeer Ahmed Jatak and other speakers. After chanting slogans in support of their demands, the protesters dispersed peacefully.