Drowning Balochistan
By Tahir Malangzai
From the beginning, natural and anthropogenic hazards always hit Balochistan barely; from the British
time and after, Baloch people are facing awkwardness while they are the owner of the wealthiest geography. This rich land with natural resources of gold, copper, oil, chromite, valuable stones, and natural gas became catastrophic, and they could not change their lifestyle on this land.
The recent spell of heavy rainfall and floods wreaked havoc in Balochistan, and losses of humans, shelters, species, and other precious resources have been damaged. Also, the ground connection and communication between Sindh and Balochistan provinces were disconnected. Heavy rain destroyed roads and flooded the bridges in Bela and adjoining areas of the region, while trading and traveling were suspended among these two provinces.
Flood affected many areas of Balochistan, including Hub, Quetta, Noshki, Kharan, Panjgur, Turbat, Qila Saifullah, Pishin Zhob, and other parts.
According to the media reports, more than 370 people died, out of them 49 women, 34 males, and a maximum of 66 casualties’ children have been reported.
Except for this, renowned anchorperson Hamid Mir in his statement, declared the fatalities 470 by heavy stormy flood in Balochistan.
Per the Provincial Disaster Management Authority PDMA – PDMA, 6077 houses were destroyed, 712 cattle died, and the heavy flood completely damaged crops on 197930 acres.
Timely inattention of the government ruins the life of the people and their special equipment. If we compare this hazard with the Murree heavy snowstorms in January 2022, in the same year, more than 20 people died, their vehicles got trapped, and deaths occurred due to carbon dioxide. However, Murree was trending, and the government’s and national media’s full attention gave full coverage to that tragedy. Nevertheless, Balochistan is always being neglected, and their behavior is like a stepmother to this province. Unfortunately, this province is the country’s backbone and wheel of economic progress.
Moreover, agriculturally inhabitants lost their harvest; the district Turbat and the Panjgur in the Mekuran division are famous for more than 130 varieties of delicious and high-quality dates. Sadly, monsoon rainfall has affected them this year. Balochistan produced around 225,000 tons of delicious and high-quality dates in the previous season, and the province became a huge date exporter to Japan. 53% of the country’s dates are yielded from the Mekuran division. Dates are the significant source and economy of people of the region yearly, they work and wait for this season to meet the economy, but this year they lost this source of sustenance.
The federal, provincial government, and other NGOs should make an effort to provide relief to the affected and flood-hit areas of Balochistan.
The writer is a freelance Journalist from Panjgur, and he did his Master’s from the University of Balochistan Quetta. He can be reached at: malangzaibaloch@gmail .com
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