Study on the causes of Water Scarcity in Pishin Lora Basin of Balochistan

Abstract

Focusing on the importance of water a research study was conducted on the causes of water scarcity in Pishin Lora Basin (PLB) region of Balochistan. Pishin Lora Basin lies in the uplands of Balochistan covering districts of Pishin, Quetta, Killa Abdullah, Mastung and part of Kalat, between latitudes 28o 43’and 31o 00’N longitudes 66o 12’ and 67o 43’E. It is one of the major basins known for its sever water scarcity. The study is based on primary data which has been collected from farmers through well-structured questionnaire. The number of farmers in PLB are 5000, out of which 1700 belong to Pishin, 1300 to Quetta, 1000 to Killa Abdullah, 600 to Mastung, and 400 to Kalat. For the collection of data a sample of 300 farmers has been selected through stratified sampling method. The current situation of water is very critical in PLB. However, the general reasons for water scarcity are power related problem, long duration of drought, rising population growth and over exploitation of water etc. Similarly, it has also been noted that installation of new tubewells, running hours of tubewells and water table depletion are also found to be the key factors that led to the shortage of water in the study area. On the basis of the result of this study, it has been recommended that the government should develop effective strategies to put restriction on installation of more tubewells, the introduction of high efficiency irrigation system at firm level and solution of electricity problem were some of the effective measures suggested for reducing the burden on available water resources and increase water of farmers’ production.