Pir Koh (Dera Bugti), [Pakistan], June 15: Over 50,000 residents of Pir Koh in Balochistan are facing a severe humanitarian crisis as a worsening shortage of clean drinking water grips the drought-hit sub-tehsil. Despite being located next to Sui, home to one of Pakistan’s largest natural gas reserves, the region remains deprived of even the most basic necessity — water.
Far from being a natural disaster, the situation in Pir Koh is the outcome of decades of government neglect and systemic underdevelopment. With temperatures soaring this summer, many families have been forced to flee in search of water, while others are staging protests. Numerous residents have reported falling ill after consuming contaminated water from unsafe sources.
The crisis has been intensified by the Public Health Engineering Department’s (PHE) inability to maintain or repair essential water infrastructure. What makes the situation even more striking is that Pir Koh falls within the electoral constituency of the current Chief Minister of Balochistan. Despite this, there have been no visible emergency relief efforts on the ground, and criticism from locals is reportedly being met with repression rather than action.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee, in a statement on social media platform X, strongly condemned the government’s inaction, stating: “The water crisis in Dera Bugti’s Pir Koh is a direct result of state abandonment. Thousands are suffering while their elected representative remains silent.”
This tragedy is emblematic of a larger pattern of institutional neglect and coercion faced by the Baloch population — from crumbling infrastructure and lack of basic services to enforced disappearances and civil rights violations.
The Baloch Yakjehti Committee has called for immediate intervention by global humanitarian bodies, including the United Nations, UNICEF, and Amnesty International, to deliver emergency water aid and address the humanitarian crisis.
Water, a fundamental human right, remains inaccessible to thousands in Pir Koh — a stark reminder of the region’s long-standing marginalisation.
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Pir Koh, Balochistan, Dera Bugti, water crisis, humanitarian crisis, Pakistan, Baloch Yakjehti Committee, drought, clean drinking water, public health, state neglect, systemic underdevelopment, Chief Minister Balochistan, global aid, human rights, UNICEF, UN, Amnesty International, water scarcity, resource-rich poverty, crisis response