Hundreds of residents in Pir Koh, a tehsil of Dera Bugti, Balochistan, held a protest rally on Sunday against an acute water shortage that has forced many families to abandon their homes.
The protest took place in Dera Bugti’s main bazaar, where demonstrators chanted slogans against the government and demanded the immediate provision of clean drinking water. Protesters noted that despite Balochistan Chief Minister Sarfraz Bugti being elected from this very region, his hometown remains deprived of basic necessities.
Residents said Pir Koh is facing a severe humanitarian crisis due to extreme heat and continued government negligence. The lack of drinking water has made survival difficult, forcing many to migrate to other areas. Locals blamed the Public Health Engineering Department for its failure to address the situation, saying the institution has completely collapsed.
Several families have reportedly left their ancestral homes in Pir Koh in recent weeks, with many more planning to relocate if the crisis continues.
In a statement, the Baloch Yakjehti Committee (BYC) said that Pir Koh, located near the resource-rich town of Sui, is home to more than 50,000 people who are currently affected by the water shortage. The group said the situation is not a natural disaster but a result of state negligence.
The statement added that while the region produced the current chief minister, his own constituency remains absent from his priorities. The ongoing deprivation of water, healthcare, and other basic rights reflects systematic discrimination and injustice against the people of Balochistan, the committee said.
The BYC has called on the United Nations, UNICEF, Amnesty International, and other global bodies to intervene immediately and help resolve what it termed a “manufactured crisis.”
The group further stated that the people of Balochistan are entitled to life, dignity, and access to basic services. The silence of the international community, it warned, will only deepen the severity of the crisis.