Gwadar’s Water Crisis Worsens: Urgent Action Needed to Fix Port City’s Broken Infrastructure

The Gwadar Water Crisis has once again pushed Pakistan’s strategic port city into the spotlight for all the wrong reasons. As temperatures soar to 45°C, desperate residents—mostly women and children—have taken to the streets since early June, blocking roads with empty water containers in a bid to draw attention to their suffering.

Despite its status as the gateway to the multibillion-dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC), Gwadar is battling for something as basic as clean drinking water. The city’s population of 260,000 is caught between climate change, broken infrastructure, and misgovernance.

Why Is Gwadar Still Facing Water Shortages?

The Gwadar Water Crisis is not new. Over the years, the city has relied heavily on rainfall as its main water source. But shifting climate patterns have turned once-reliable winter rains into rare and extreme events, often bringing more destruction than relief. Droughts are longer, and water infrastructure remains outdated and underfunded.

Climate Change Compounds the Crisis

According to Pazeer Ahmad, a Gwadar-based hydrologist, “This crisis is not merely a result of water scarcity, but of ineffective governance and lack of adaptation to climate change.” In fact, while downpours in 2005, 2007, 2010, 2022, and 2024 brought flooding, they did little to replenish reservoirs sustainably.

The Dam Dilemma: Dried Reservoirs and Mismanaged Growth

The Ankara Kaur Dam, Gwadar’s primary source for over two decades, is now bone-dry. As Gwadar expanded—with new roads, an airport, and CPEC infrastructure—the dam could no longer support the growing population.

Other dams like Sawad, Shaadi Kaur, Sheizank, and Shanzani were constructed in recent years. Still, these failed to end the water crisis. According to local journalist Bahram Baloch, “Sawad is the only dam supplying water now, and it will dry up within three to four months.”

Meanwhile, pipelines from the Shaadi Kaur dam are in place but remain idle due to lack of funding for electricity and maintenance.

Desalination Plants: Big Promises, Zero Delivery

Located on the Arabian Sea, Gwadar should be ideally positioned to desalinate seawater. Yet 11 desalination plants set up over the years—including some funded by China under CPEC—are either non-functional or underperforming.

Despite investments such as:

• A 1.2 MGD plant worth $12.7 million, and

• A 5 MGD facility under construction worth $5 billion,

…the city is still parched.

Why? “These plants need uninterrupted electricity and proper maintenance,” said activist Nasir Rahim Sohrabi. “Many are just for photo-ops or political point-scoring,” added Nabi Buksh Baloch, another local resident.

Tanker Mafia and the Cost of Buying Water

In absence of functional pipelines or desalination, the government once relied on trucking water from Meerani Dam, located 150 km away. But alleged corruption and unpaid dues led tanker operators to withdraw services.

Now, private tankers charge $70–$90 per delivery for often contaminated water, accessible only to wealthier families. Poor residents must wait weeks for their turn or rely on unsafe water sources.

Governance Failure and Corruption

Corruption fuels much of the Gwadar Water Crisis. Recent reports from the Public Accounts Committee and earlier investigations by the National Accountability Bureau (NAB) revealed embezzlement of up to $4.46 million in desalination projects.

Even at the street level, residents say they’re forced to pay bribes to “valve-men” to fill tanks. Meanwhile, overlapping responsibilities between Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) and Public Health and Engineering (PHE) departments create delays and inefficiencies.

“Everyone wants control over water supply contracts because that means control over money,” said Sohrabi.

A Way Forward: What Needs to Change?

The Gwadar Water Crisis is not unsolvable. Experts argue that long-term strategies and proper governance could end the cycle of deprivation.

Key Recommendations:

• Operationalize existing desalination plants instead of building new ones.

• Invest in solar-powered pumping systems for dams.

• Expand groundwater recharge projects and rainwater harvesting.

• Strengthen oversight bodies to monitor water fund usage.

• Create a unified water management authority to end departmental turf wars.

• Install affordable and equitable water distribution systems.

“Gwadar is not without water,” emphasized Pazeer Ahmad. “It has sea, groundwater, and dams. What it lacks is political will and efficient planning.”

Internal and External Links

Internal Links:

• CPEC Infrastructure and Climate Risks

• Balochistan’s Climate Adaptation Plans

External DoFollow Links:

• The Diplomat – Gwadar’s Water Crisis Analysis

• China-Pakistan Economic Corridor Official Website

• National Accountability Bureau Pakistan

Conclusion: Will Gwadar Ever Have Water Security?

The Gwadar Water Crisis symbolizes the broader challenges facing Pakistan—climate vulnerability, misgovernance, and a failure to prioritize human needs over political agendas. As protests rage and water sources dry up, one thing is clear: no amount of infrastructure or foreign investment can fix a broken system without transparency, political will, and public accountability.

Gwadar’s future hinges not on another desalination plant ribbon-cutting ceremony, but on the ability of its leaders to act decisively, transparently, and in alignment with the needs of its people.