Residents of the coastal city of Gwadar staged a sit-in outside the Gwadar Development Authority (GDA) office on Wednesday to protest the worsening water crisis, accusing officials of neglect and corruption.
The demonstration, led by former municipal chairman Sharif Miandad along with Abdul Hameed, Maulana Ilyas, Waleed Majeed, Nasir Musa, and Shakeel KD, drew large participation from citizens, including women, elderly people, and youth.
Speakers at the protest said that Gwadar and its surrounding areas have been facing an acute shortage of drinking water for weeks, yet the GDA – responsible for ensuring supply – has failed to take concrete measures. “Gwadar remains thirsty while officials hold photo sessions and make hollow claims on social media,” one of the speakers remarked.
They emphasized that the protest was not politically motivated but a struggle for a basic human right – access to water. “We don’t have water to drink or even perform ablution. This crisis has forced us to come out on the streets,” said another protester.
Protest leaders also accused some GDA officials of corruption, alleging that certain employees arrive in Gwadar on bicycles but within a year own bungalows and luxury cars in Karachi and other cities, wealth they claimed was siphoned from public funds.
The protesters demanded that water supply management be transferred from GDA to the Public Health Engineering Department to ensure fair distribution through a transparent system.a
They announced that the sit-in would continue until the authorities take tangible steps to resolve the crisis.