Khadim’s Quetta

World Water Day 2010

KhAdim Durrani Quettawaal

Reading news items like the one given below is becoming a very commonplace whereby people express their concerns about Quetta roads and streets being flooded by the overflow of wastewater from the open drains or from the so-called non-existent sewerage system that often gets clogged up by the solid wastes. It is with that issue in mind and with the arrival of 22^nd March, a date when World Water Day is celebrated, that I have made an attempt to highlight the present situation relating to the lack of safe water and poor sanitation in the Quetta Valley.

(Source: http://www.jang.com.pk/jang/dec2008-daily/27-12-2008/update.htm#72)

Fig. 1: showing Jinnah Road where after the rainfall there is an overflow of the sewage and the rainwater. Many busy city roads face similar fate! (Source: ‘The Jang’ online edition of 27 December 2008)

The main purpose of this article is to raise awareness about the potential risks that the open sewage and toxic industrial effluent in the Quetta Valley pose to water quality hence to the public health, in particular its socio-economic impact on the lives of those people whose areas are prone to sewage flooding. The article also seeks to bring to the forefront the dire need for a sewerage system for the Quetta Valley – a grand project which was left uncompleted in the 1990s! It is also argued that if this important issue is left unaddressed then in the long run the toxic waste/sewage may contaminate part of the Quetta valley aquifers (underground natural water reservoirs), rendering them unusable – something which is already slowly taking place to some extent. I would like to reiterate here that only points related to quality of water, sanitation and hygiene are discussed in this article.

For practical purposes I have divided the article into three parts: Part One deals briefly with the basic concepts such as hydrological cycle, groundwater, porosity, permeability, aquifers, aquifer contamination, the [human made] Karezes and their possible role in contaminating the aquifers. Those of you who have got a previous knowledge of these concepts can skip Part I and proceed directly to the Parts II & III of this article.

Part I

The hydrological cycle or water cycle (Figs. 2a & 2b) which describes the constant movement of water above, on, and below the Earth’s surface involves the following main stages: evapotranspiration, precipitation, surface runoff, subsurface flow and groundwater pathways. After the rain fall part of it infiltrates the soil and the remainder evaporates or runs off into the rivers. A proportion of the moisture is used by the roots of plants, later on losing it through transpiration to the atmosphere but some of the infiltrated water travels deeper until it reaches an impermeable bed (a rock layer past which it cannot move any further) thus accumulating there, saturating available pore spaces and forming an underground reservoir. The underground rock layers that can both store and transmit accumulated groundwater to outlets in rivers, springs and the sea are called aquifers. In order for water to get stored in the underlying rock layers, porosity is needed whilst to get transmitted or keep moving permeability is required, that is pores with interconnection that allow water (or fluids & gases) to move around.

Fig. 2a. The Water Cycle (Figure Courtesy of USGS)

Fig. 2b Another diagram showing hydrological cycle (source: Morris et al., 2003)

The ability of the aquifer to store groundwater is therefore dependent on the primary and secondary porosity and permeability.

In the primary (or inter-granular/inherent) type, porosity and permeability are dependent on the size, shape, grading and packing of the sediment grains and also on the way they have been initially consolidated. In this type water is stored in the interstices between the grains. It is worth remembering that natural processes such as compaction and diagenesis reduce initial or primary porosity and cannot be restored to its initial state.

In the secondary (or fracture/induced) type, porosity occurs when the original or primary pores in the rocks undergo alteration, involving chemical and physical processes. These are small cracks and fractures that are more usual in limestones and older compact rocks. For example, fractures caused by faulting – a physical process – or, dissolution of limestone (carbonate rocks) – a chemical process – give rise to intriguing underground Karst topography. The natural channels (or caves) in limestone are part of Karstic landforms. In this type of porosity water is stored in fractures and flows through them. Please note that almost all the mountain ranges around the Quetta valley are made up of limestone (carbonate rocks = CaCO₃) therefore the presence of karstic features cannot be ruled out.

The different ways that water is stored and flows through the rock control both the volume of the storage and its relative mobility. Basically, the primary and secondary porosities are the main properties of strata on which depend the productivity of an aquifer.

In the case of sandstones, for example, during burial primary porosity gets destroyed by cementation, compaction and pressure solution but studies show (Pye & Krinsley, 1985) that at depth significant secondary porosity can develop in sandstones, e.g., porosity formed by fracturing, shrinkage and dissolution of sedimentary grains and matrix.

Fig. 3: Rock texture and porosity of typical aquifer material (source: Morris et al., 2003)

The above information about aquifers is general and not specific to Quetta. In fact two main types of aquifers are present in the Quetta Valley and according to (Kazmi, 2005) they are unconsolidated alluvial and (carbonate/limestone) fractured bedrock types. The alluvial aquifer being the main aquifer is recharged from infiltration of precipitation, runoff and inflow from the bedrock aquifer in the foothill areas. The bedrock aquifer consists mainly of limestone rocks (e.g., Takatu, Koh-i-Murdar, Chiltan, Muree-Brewry hills) that surround Quetta valley and this is where the bedrock aquifer gets recharged.

Water Table: Water table is the top surface of groundwater or the level to which the ground is fully saturated – the saturated zone. The zone above the water table is known as the unsaturated zone (see Fig. 4).

Ground water contamination

Groundwater contamination has been reported from around the world. In nature, water does not exist in pure form; it is always found in association with certain dissolved minerals, micro-organisms and/or other suspended matter. However it is the pollution, in the form of micro organisms or chemicals, caused by human activity (e.g., agriculture, urbanisation, industry) that could be detrimental to human health or to the environment and that is what we need to prevent from taking place.

It’s worth mentioning here that groundwater contamination is a slow process and for water to move down into deep aquifers (Fig. 4 ) from the surface through unsaturated zone could mean a long period of time before groundwater quality gets affected by persistent chemicals.

Reduction/attenuation of contaminants in the subsurface

The unsaturated zone (Fig. 4) which represents a first line of defence against groundwater pollution, plays a very important role in reducing (or attenuating) the concentration of many harmful micro-organisms and other contaminants that pass through it. Generally it is in this zone and in particular in the upper reaches of the soil where the process of attenuation is most effective due to the higher rate of biological activity. Though attenuation still takes place at the deeper layers in the unsaturated zone but because of decrease in biological activity the processes involved become less effective. On reaching the saturated zone (Fig. 4), the attenuation becomes less significant and natural die-off and dilutions predominate.

In the saturated zone of the aquifer the processes of contaminant removal continue but at much lower rates because here the groundwater moves more rapidly, causing dispersion, dilution and ultimately reduction of contaminant concentrations. However, highly toxic contaminants are not much affected by this reduction mechanism.

On the other hand, in inter-granular aquifers where low-yielding boreholes such as those fitted with a hand pump, the travel time for water to move downward from the water table to the intake of the borehole (Fig. 4) can be considerable even for quite small vertical distances, thus, delaying not only the arrival of persistent contaminants but also reducing substantially the hazard from less persistent contaminants.

Fig. 4  showing unsaturataed and  saturated zone and effect of borehole design on travel time and pathogen attenuation efficiency where on-site sanitation is practised (source: Morris et al., 2003)

Reduction/attenuation of Microbiological contaminants

In groundwater some viruses can survive for up to 150 days and encysted protozoa even longer.

The processes of adsorption and filtration play main role in the attenuation of microbiological material. In dispersion however the concentration of contaminant plumes become diluted due to the spreading of water when it flows through the rock material

Poor design and construction of the borehole, well or spring supply can also cause contamination of groundwater. For example, in a borehole if a proper sanitary seal is not applied between the well casing and the ground then a ready and rapid pathway becomes available for contaminants to migrate from the land surface close to the well-head down casing annulus to the water table; the pathways thus rapidly bypass the unsaturated zone and the contaminants escape the necessary alteration they would have undergone otherwise in the unsaturated zone.

In aquifers underlying cities or large industrial complexes Secondary water quality changes occur, caused by a combination of the increased contaminant load at the urban land surface/shallow subsurface and its penetration as city boreholes induce downward leakage of urban recharge. I don’t know how many boreholes in the Quetta Valley have been properly fitted with sanitary seal but there are scores of low lying ‘wells’ which can easily get flooded during the rainy season thus allowing sewage/contaminants from the land surface to join the water table and contaminate it.

As the volume of water that migrates by this route to the water table is usually small in comparison with that entering the borehole screen from the aquifer; the water quality is normally affected microbiologically rather than chemically. The reason for this being that dilution within the borehole normally reduces any chemical contaminants to acceptable concentrations, whereas even low microbiological counts can represent a significant and unacceptable hazard.

Unsaturated zone travel time and aquifer residence time are important factors in any aquifer assessment because they affect the ability of the aquifer to eliminate or mitigate contamination from activities at the land surface. For example, a residence time of a month or so would be sufficient enough to get rid of most bacterial pathogens.

The saturated zone of an aquifer with high storage capacity holds much water that could dilute contaminant concentrations to acceptable limits.

Using Aquifer Vulnerability to assess Pollution Risk

Pollution caused by human activity and the natural pollution vulnerability of the aquifer are the semi-independent factors that define groundwater pollution risk. In order to determine whether an aquifer is likely to be affected by an imposed contaminant load, vulnerability assessment is conducted which normally deals with the potential contaminant attenuation capacity of the aquifer, from surface to the water table.

Aquifers that are highly fractured with a shallow water table can be extremely vulnerable as they offer little chance for contaminant attenuation.

Subsurface Contaminant Load

Load Characterisation

The subsurface load is very important in identifying groundwater contaminant hazard and precise information about it [subsurface load] will allow more accurate evaluation of the extent of risk. Insufficient characterisation of the subsurface contaminant load also greatly obstructs a detailed investigation of major groundwater pollution episodes and the prediction of future groundwater quality trends resulting from such episodes. Activities such as un-sewered sanitation and land and stream discharge of sewage can potentially generate a subsurface contaminant load.

Characterisation of subsurface load

Four broad characteristics of subsurface load are as follows:

• Class of Contaminants: A contaminant can have the potential to contaminate groundwater if it remains mobile and persistent, that is, it is leached to the water table, since non-mobile compounds are retained in the soil by the processes of sorption, cation exchange or precipitation. The properties of mobility and persistence are therefore the key ones.

• Intensity of Contamination: At low intensities the soil zone can cope to eliminate and attenuate/reduce many contaminants but above a certain critical threshold a greater percentage of the contaminant will be leached.

• Mode of Disposition: Generally, the soil layer plays an effective role in attenuating/reducing contaminants and when this layer gets bypassed by means of, say, seepage from soakaways, drains and solid waste disposal pits or from leaking underground tanks then as compared to the contaminants of the soil surface these contaminants pose a serious threat to groundwater

• Duration of Application: In the deeper groundwater systems of the saturated zone of the aquifer the contaminants are dispersed and diluted during migration through the saturated zone. However, toxic contaminants such as chlorinated solvents, some heavy metals and radioactive wastes, even in small quantities, can cause serious groundwater pollution.

Groundwater Pollution Risk Assessment

In assessing groundwater pollution risks the consideration of the interaction between aquifer vulnerability and the contaminant load is important and useful. Background information on both the aquifer characteristics such as depth to water table, permeability, degree of fracturing etc and the polluting activities such as class of contaminant, duration and intensity of application and disposition can help in making a quick assessment of pollution risk.

The risk assessments are very helpful in identifying groundwater environments, most contamination and areas where monitoring is important to evaluate the scale and extent of groundwater quality problem.

Karez (qanat)

To the people of Balochistan, and Quetta, the word Karez is not an unfamiliar one; for the last 2500 years, before the advent of the modern day tube wells, karezes represented indigenous source of water for domestic and irrigation purposes in the region. Basically, Karez is a subsurface tunnel that taps aquifer water; it generally follows the slope of an alluvial fan in the valleys of the mountainous regions. Initially a mother well is dug to the aquifer at the head of the Karez system (Fig.5), followed by maintenance wells along the length of Karez upto the point (the daylight point) at which water emerges. The length of a karez may range between two to three miles; the wells and underground channel/tunnel are usually dug along a straight course. In the Quetta region some abandoned Karez shafts/wells are to-date present while it is reported that Pishin (distt.?) to the northwest of Quetta and Mustung to the south east of Quetta have got a few operational karezes. As far as I remember, I think I have seen abandoned karez wells along Quetta-Hana lake road and in the south-eastern part of Quetta, not far from the dairy farm  (Fig. See the dotted green line).

Fig. 5: Schematic diagram of a typical Karez (source: Khan & Mustafa)

Part II

The sewage without the sewerage system

Quetta valley which lies at an altitude of about 1,600 meters is bounded on all sides by locally known mountain ranges thus limiting Quetta city’s potential for further physical expansion. Outside of the city, in the valley, due to the absence of development strategy for low income communities, numerous small settlements have been haphazardly mushrooming up. Starting clockwise (Fig. 6), in the north and the north-eastern part, the big chunk, almost two thirds of the Quetta valley comes under the jurisdiction of the Cantonment board; to the southeast, Marriabad and Shaaldara define city’s south-eastern physical limit while to the south-southeast (SSE) lies Pashtoon Abad. The scarcity and high land prices have forced the people of the above three areas to construct their houses uphill (here, here & here). Further south, the valley extends along Sariab road while Murree-Brewry area marks the south-western part of the city, extending to the northwest along Samungli, Quetta-Airport road, Baleli and Kutchlaak.

Rock formations exposed in the Quetta Valley range in age from Early Jurassic to Quaternary (e.g., Chiltan, Parh group, Urak Group and the Quaternary alluvial deposits of stream beds and alluvial fans.

Despite the shortage of space, Quetta’s population has quadrupled over the last two decades. We are still not sure as to the approximate number of people living in the valley. Different reports, media or otherwise, give different population statistics and the difference is not of a few thousand but of 100s of thousands – some say about 2 million, others say one and half million and there are other reports which talk about under one million people inhabiting the valley. However, in the absence of realistic figures we can be sure of one thing and that is Quetta’s population has increased beyond its capacity of town planning, beyond the capacity of its provision of services and beyond the capacity of the local government to manage and run an efficient and well organised civic life, therefore the overburden puts all the resources under strain. In particular the provision of hygienic sanitation conditions, management of solid wastes and keeping the storm water drains unclogged are the key issues of concern that preoccupy the Quetta residents.

Main drainage features and their general flow directions

Quetta’s rain and waste waters get drained out of the city by three major natural perennial watercourses or naalas, namely, Durrani, Habib, and Sariab Lora (Fig. circled numbers 1, 2, & 3). During the British rule, in the inner city and cantonment areas parts of the latter two were further developed, with brick lining. All these water courses (naalaas) and Naalees (city’s open wastewater street drainage network) indicate a general flow direction towards northwest, reflecting the natural slope direction for the major part of the city, however, depending on the topography of the area the slope directions may vary in the southern parts of Quetta valley, something that can be checked by the flow directions of Naalees there! The three main Naalaas are briefly described below:

• Durrani Naala: Durrani Naala which runs for most of its course in the cantonment area, originates in the northern part of the Koh-i-Murdar and runs almost parallel to Habib Naala in the south; westwards out of the city both Durrani and Habib Naalas merge into one, ultimately joining Sariab Lora (Fig. 6).

• Habib Naala: the Habib Naala originates in the south-east, at the foothill of Koh-i-Murdar near Marriabad-Shaldara hill juncture and runs almost north-west wards (NW), crisscrossing various parts of the city; its other tributary that originates in the south-eastern reaches of the cantonment area (between the State Bank Colony and Dairy farm), runs along Gulistan Road (Police lines), separating Quetta city from Quetta cantonment and joins the other tributary that runs along the circular road (Fig. 6).

• Sariab Lora: the Sariab Lora [lora: a Pashto word for stream/Naala] lies to the west of Quetta and flows almost northwards parallel to the western by-pass. Various tributaries or small scale streams from the piedmont of Murree-Brewery hills and western townships feed rain water and wastewater into Sariab Lora (Fig. 6).

In Quetta the aquifers (underground water reservoirs) are located near the foothills of the Murdar and Mian Ghundi regions. The Samungli-Baleli water gap, located to the northwest of Quetta, connects the Quetta Basin with Bostan-Pishin Plain. The drainage of Quetta Basin finds its way out through this gap and joins the Pishin Lora River. The Pishin Lora is the principal stream of Quetta sub-district.

Not all the settlements in and around Quetta have access to sanitation infrastructure, thus leaving the people of those communities exposed to severe health hazard, especially water-borne diseases which are becoming common in Quetta and other regions of Pakistan these days. In the last two decades many community-based sanitation initiatives were introduced. These projects, though not all of them were run successfully, nonetheless, did contribute towards the improvement of sanitation conditions in the ‘Kutchi Aabaadis’ or the small settlements of the Quetta outskirts, but, did not solve the sanitation problem that affects residents of Quetta.

According to some reports hardly 2% of Quetta city is linked to a ‘sewerage system’. The partial/crude management of domestic waste water is done by open drains and gutters along the road, ultimately discharging their load into the Habib Nala and Sariab Lora (Fig. 6)

Unfortunately, when it rains the resulting rain water (runoff) mixes up with the openly draining sewage, flooding the low lying parts of Quetta and the city centre, eventually creating stagnant pool of septic water. Even areas where there is a reasonable drainage facility the drains get clogged up by the ubiquitous solid wastes. I should better say keeping them even unclogged during the long spells of drought would be a big achievement!

According to an unpublished, untitled and undated report (ref. needed), daily garbage production in Quetta is about 600 tons, of which only a small portion (60 to 70 tons) gets collected; even the [human] excreta collected from households and municipal latrines is dumped in open fields or into the street drains, a significant quantity of which find their way on the city roads, further increasing the threat to ‘public health’.

No reliable statistics are available as to the amount of wastewater that is fed into various Naalas of the Quetta valley.  In a household environment the use of water is mainly confined to bathing, cooking/dish washing, washing of the laundry and for toilet usage/flushing where the minimum amount of around 2 litres per person per day (l/P/d) can be used. The amount of water used by the residents of Quetta urban and Katchi aabaadies varies as water is not supplied round the clock – in fact it is rationed! But given that between one and over two million people live in the valley, it can therefore be assumed that at least a few million litres of water is consumed per day. The resulting domestic wastewater along with industrial effluent then finds its way ultimately into various Naalas, and, almost all of these Naalas/streams end up flowing north-west wards, passing through Baleli and ultimately joining the Pishin Lora River.

Fig. 7

Fig. 8 The sewage in the above pictures clearly shows the danger to the public health. The open drainage is not a man-made Naala or a river but a natural watercourse, staying almost full to the brim by the sewage of households (of the slums and that of city dwellers).

The infiltration of sewage is indeed contaminating the underground water reservoirs (the aquifers) of the affected area

In order to see what effects wastewater from Quetta City has on plants, Bazai and Achakzai (2006) conducted some laboratory tests on lettuce plant. They found out that with the increase in the concentration of wastewater, the seed germination was significantly reduced and delayed. And when they compared the source of polluted water they found out that the germination and seedling growth were reduced to their maximum in the effluent of Chiltan Ghee Mill, followed by domestic sewage of Chiltan and Zarghoon towns. What Bazai and Achakzai did was to test in a laboratory the effects of waste water on plants, but what some farmers and fruit growers have been doing for the past many years now is the use of city sewage to irrigate their farms and orchards, rendering vegetables/fruits unsafe for human consumption (Fig.9). Unfortunately a few rare public parks are also watered by the same sewage water.

Fig. 9: Sewage water is being used in the fields, near Sabzal Mandi Road Queta, despite an injunction order by Balochistan High court, preventing farmers from using sewage water (Photo by Naseer Ahmed Kakar: September 10, 2009).

Majeed (2004) has also pointed out the negative effects that the untreated domestic, industrial and municipal wastes can have on the water quality; he has also expressed his concern that the use of chemical fertilisers to boost agricultural production along with the use of chemicals such as insecticides, pesticides and herbicides can pollute aquifers.

Moreover, the slow moving or stagnant wastewater is not going to get vaporised in a week or so (since it gets replenished continuously by constant pouring in of domestic wastewater used by the Quetta residents, topped up by rare seasonal rain). One can argue that heavy seasonal rains can awash the hazardous sewage out of the valley. The answer to that would be that in the event of a normal or a torrential rain the wastewater from these watercourses (there are others as well in Quetta) will mix up with the rainwater, thus flooding not only the residential areas but also contaminating their source of potable water supplies through leaked pipes and possibly contaminating the aquifers by means of low lying wells or even through a leaked borehole! And the following news item which appeared in the Jang online’s Quetta city news, dated: 25.10.08, only corroborates this assertion.

In a recent press conference on the World Malaria Day,provinvial DG Health Amanullah Khan expressed his concerns about the menace of malaria in Balochistan which he said represented the high risk zone and despite limited resources his department was ready to combat malaria in the region. In the same press conference the provincial head of the Malaria Control programme Dr Shakoor Alam added that annually there were about 250,000.00 malaria victims in Balochistan and that it was a big challenge’’. Below is the original news item that appeared in the Jang online edition on 25.04.09.

The reason I referred above to DG Health’s press conference is because in the open sewage systems of the developing countries mosquitoes flourish and multiply.

In order to understand the causes of and sources of contamination recently Khan et al (2009) carried out a geochemical study of groundwater resources in the Quetta valley, focusing mainly on the water quality aspect of the problem. Their results revealed high concentration of nitrate, sulphate, arsenic, selenium, chromium and nickel in groundwater samples from Quetta valley. They thought the source of nitrate contamination was the agricultural areas with animal farms because the samples could be linked to those areas. While the source for sulfate (SO₄), a minor contaminant, was thought to be gypsum present in the surrounding rocks of Quetta valley. Furthermore, they warned that the continuous use of water contaminants like arsenic and selenium posed danger to human health.

Arsenic and selenium with raised levels can cause various types of cancer and other illnesses, were also found in the groundwater samples from Quetta and according to the authors of 2009 a detailed study is required. The coal mines in the Sorange area were considered to be the source of high content of arsenic and selenium for three of their analyzed water samples.

Arsenic in high concentrations is poisonous and low level but long-term exposure to it can cause cancer. For more details on arsenic’s presence in drinking water please read WHO’s factsheet. Equally read about the extent to which Bangladesh has been affected by arsenic problem.

Part III

What happened to the grand Quetta Sewerage Project of early 1990s?

The People of Quetta were very happy and thankful to the TAXPAYERS OF HOLLAND for their huge donations to build a sewerage system for Quetta! But, alas, this happiness did not last long and the dream never got materialized. What had happened actually was that after a decade’s planning and bureaucratic wrangling the project got underway in early 90s, especially during 1993-94 and instead of executing the project in stages, all the street/roads were dug out at once to lay down the sewage pipes (Fig. 10). I remember the first few months of the project were very difficult for the Quetta residents; clouds of dust were everywhere and the already chaotic traffic had become a total failure.

Fig. 10. A sketch showing a Quetta street of 1993/94!

But the people had to put up with all that hassle, thinking that their city would soon be equipped with a sewerage system which in turn would improve the sanitation and hygiene conditions, making it look cleaner and less stinky, hurray! But no, nothing happened afterwards; 100s of kilometres of sewage pipes remain buried[i] underground, hundreds of people must have died as a direct result of inhaling dense dust and other pollutants combined with it. Many businesses suffered too. But to this date we do not know what went wrong and why the project was not completed? Regrettably, no public enquiries were ever carried out and no public reports are available either as to the exact reasons for the failure of this grand project. As usual a few people must have become millionaire out of this grand but failed project and that is at the expense of the residents of Quetta and Dutch Taxpayers! We must however acknowledge the generosity of the people of Holland who gave millions of dollars for this project and once again shame on us for our mismanagement, fund embezzlement and for failing to implement this project!

Fig. 11: Manhole construction on 900 mm dia, RCC sewage transport main in Quetta city (Picture source: http://www.nespak.com.pk). The source doesn’t mention the location of this photo but I remember having seen myself deep sewage pipes that were laid down in the heart of city near Meezan Market.

The above picture has been taken from NESPAK’s website under their rubric for Quetta Sewerage Project but apart from this photo there wasn’t any other information available about the said project. Since I am not aware of any current project regarding Quetta Sewerage, I therefore assume the picture in question could have been from the early 1990’s aborted project – unless if I am corrected by someone. Whether my assumption is correct or not, the fact remains 100’s of such manholes were constructed in the city during early 1990’s and they were in addition to 100’s of kilometres of pipe lines that were laid down and which are buried now beneath the surface.

Interestingly, recently I came across a report by Qutub et al (PIEDAR Report 2008, PDF available online) in which it was mentioned in passing that in 1994, the Netherlands Government had to abandon a water supply and sanitation project because of the corruption in the government agency it was involved with. So which other project the report was referring to other than the failed grand sanitation project of Quetta which was solely being funded by the Netherlands Government in the 1990s?

That’s all I wanted to say about that project; a very disappointing situation! Corruption, bad governance and lack of accountability are the key issues that affect each and every one of us and, let’s not forget corruption leads to poverty and poverty to violence – something that we are witnessing right now across the country!

However, in the latest news item (below in Urdu) of March 3, 2010, appeared in the Jang online’s Quetta city news, we hear once again about the “good news” that ‘Quetta Water Supply & Environmental Project’ has started working on an emergency basis to supply water to [Quetta] citizens and improve the wastewater drainage/sewerage system. It adds further that according to sources in 2001 a staggering Rs. 8 billion was provided by Quetta Water Supply & Environmental Project for

sewerage, water supply, construction of dams and for other projects. During these 9 years the project budget reached from 8 to 19 billion rupees but in those 9 years neither the sewerage system and dams [were constructed] nor water was supplied to the citizens; it further goes on, that according to sources, in addition to their salaries project officers also benefited from project allowances of thousands of rupees and bought latest cars worth hundreds of thousands of rupees but [their] work was only confined to files/papers … the rest you can read for yourself!

No doubt it’s good news but what remains to be seen is its implementation – I hope.

Following is the translation of yet another news item (below in Urdu) that appeared in the Jang online edition of 26.04.09 under the rubric: Quetta city news;

“An agreement has been reached between city/various town governments and a Lahore based company to dispose of solid waste. The company has set for city/various town governments a daily target of 500 metric ton of [solid] waste to provide. Electricity will be produced from the waste and a significant need of city’s electricity will be met; the company will also make fertilizers. On government’s instruction the company has started its operations on an urgent basis. In Takhtaani near eastern by-pass the construction of building [site] has been started and foreign machinery is arriving in a few days time. The Chief Minister Balochistan Nawab Mohammed Aslam Raisani had issued special instruction to deal with [manage] the solid waste.”

Unfortunately the above was just a ‘good’ news and vanished into oblivion like so many other previous ‘good news’ that we are used to hearing frequently about various ‘promised grand projects’ which never get materialised, and almost a year on since the news was made public, no practical steps have been taken to launch the project.

We would no doubt continue witnessing Quetta city streets being strewn with solid wastes (Fig. 12 below)

Fig. 12

With regards to the above news item, all I can say is ‘please put your words into actions as we are tired of so many false promises that were made in our name but the funds went to enrich a few who were never prosecuted!

Discussion

The points that I have raised above demonstrate the gravity of the situation regarding water quality and sanitation conditions in Quetta; the inclusion of online news material from the local newspaper clearly reflects people’s concerns and reinforces what I have attempted to put across. Furthermore, it is not uncommon for Quetta city residents to complain about receiving contaminated piped water that often causes diarrhea and other waterborne illnesses; young children being the main victims of unsafe water. What is more worrying is the risk to the lives of those people who are living a few kilometers outside of the main city to the northwest of Quetta where most of the uncontrolled and untreated sewage, industrial effluent and other solid waste, emanating from Quetta, end up (Fig. 6) or ultimately join the Pishin Lora, contaminating underground water sources on their way. For example, among other illnesses, TB cases (in particular hepatitis C) are on the rise in the region and studies can be directed to see if there are more TB cases in the communities that inhabit the northwest areas of the Quetta valley e.g., Samungli, Baleli, Kuchlaak, and small settlements along the Pishin Lora or in those people/households who live along the margins (banks) of the low lying main watercourses (the Naalaas) where often the sewage load ultimately spills over the streets.

Unfortunately due to lack of awareness the vegetable/fruit growers use the same toxic water to irrigate their agricultural land, that means thousands of people from the Quetta Valley are not only at risk from drinking unsafe water but also the vegetables and fruits could pose a real danger to their health – as shown by Bazai and Achakzai (2006).

It would not be out of place here to mention that in addition to a few government owned hospitals, Quetta valley has tens of private hospitals and perhaps more than two hundred private clinics where a significant number of outpatients’ ailments could be due to drinking of unsafe water and poor sanitation; children under the age of five being the most vulnerable, are the main victims and the frequent visitors to these places.

Let’s not forget that about 25 million people die each year as a result of water pollution and that half of the diseases that affect the world’s population are transmitted by or through water (Morris et al 2003).

Unfortunately, there have been news reports that from time to time both the private and public hospitals may dump their highly infected healthcare and pharmaceutical wastes in places where they can become hazardous to the general public; some of these wastes could well be low level radioactive material. The infected waste could then become part of the main sewage, eventually contaminating the sources of drinking water, and/or may well be used by farmers to irrigate their agricultural land. It’s worth mentioning here that the contaminants from decomposing and putrefying rubbish that get leached from the land surface sometimes take years or decades before they adversely affect a ground water supply.

The preliminary result of a recent research on the trace element geochemistry of groundwater from several localities of the Quetta Valley (Khan 2009) has shown various chemical contaminants such as nitrate, sulphate, arsenic, selenium, chromium and nickel, which were interpreted to be the result of a combination of rock alteration and mining activity in the area while a decrease in the water quality of Quetta Valley was thought to be due to different water sources. However, for the potential source of contaminants an in-depth study of water quality was recommended.

In many parts of the world arsenic is said to be the most widespread geogenic contaminant. It’s only after some years that the adverse effects of an excessive intake of arsenic on health become clear. Various studies have shown the presence of arsenic as being abundant element in alluvial sediments.

Regarding the abandonment of the grand sewerage project of the 1990’s, I still don’t know why it did not see completion and to what extent mismanagement and corruption were responsible for its failure, but in the absence of sewerage system in the Quetta valley, stagnant domestic wastewater would continue to become the breeding ground for the mosquito population. Until and unless we take some concrete measures in dealing with the issue of open sewage, we would be far away from  meeting the 2010 targets of delivering effective and affordable protection and treatment to all people at risk of malaria, as called for by the UN Secretary-General, Ban Ki-Moon.

There have been reports that in order to recharge aquifers, tunnels of the karez system are being used as ‘Delay Action Dams’ (Rahman: Ecology of Karez Irrigation: a case of Pakistan). That means the functional or the abandoned Karezes have been and could be the potential conduit for carrying large quantities of contaminated waters, ultimately contaminating the aquifers. In many parts of Quetta only the orifices of karezes have been clogged while the underground horizontal passages if not clogged fully, may allow large quantities of water or sewage to flow.

Conclusions and recommendations

• One of the most pressing problems facing Quetta residents today is that of clean drinking water and sanitation. It is costing us a lot in terms of health, money and contamination of our agricultural land and puts everyone’s health and chances of survival at risk.

• One of the eight goals set for development by the United Nations in its Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) is to reduce by half, by 2015, the proportion of people without sustainable access to safe drinking water and sanitation. Unfortunately what we are witnessing currently, in the Quetta Valley, is an increase in the number of people who are being denied access to safe drinking water; surely we are quite far from meeting the MDG target. 2015 is only 4 years away, with the increase in local population and the rural-urban migration, the already stretched water and sanitation situation will further deteriorate by then.

• The healthcare sector which is the only beneficiary of poor sanitation and unsafe water is not doing enough to dispose of their infected wastes safely.

• Despite the fact that aquifer systems have got the natural capacity to reduce the effects of pollution, in particular the microbial pollutant, aquifer pollution cannot be completely avoided and once this happens then it is not easy to remediate it. It costs less to prevent our water sources from getting polluted than cleaning up contaminated water.

• In fact  Quetta doesn’t have ‘storm water drains’ but narrow open drains so limited in capacity that  a slight amount of rain results in overflowing and flooding city streets.

Recommendations

• The goal of safe water and improved sanitation is only achievable if the sewage and solid wastes are treated and disposed of properly – a valley wide integrated sewerage system seems to be the only solution!

• The provision of safe water, sanitation and hygiene can reduce significantly number of patients suffering from waterborne diseases.

• Moreover, groundwater quality monitoring should be conducted regularly and properly in the Quetta valley so that any unusual changes in water geochemistry are picked up at an earlier stage and solutions sought accordingly.

• The healthcare sector needs to be strictly regulated by the government, forcing the hospitals/clinics to arrange for an in-house disposal service by means of incinerators and alternative waste treatment plants, above all, the hospitals should be required to maintain the record of what waste they dispose of and by what means. The hospitals should also introduce clinical waste management programmes for their staff.

• It’s for the researchers of medical profession (doctors and microbiologists) to see if the illnesses inflicted upon the people, at the receiving end of the sewage, can be linked to Quetta’s sewage? If that be the case then the communities of the affected areas are made aware of the perils that await them.

• In order to assess the risks of groundwater pollution, aquifer vulnerability maps may be compiled.

• The creation of a new water testing department, with a fully equipped modern testing laboratory and dedicated trained staff with relevant expertise is highly recommended.

• When urban and industrial development projects are planned, the issue of the protection of groundwater quality should be dealt with on a priority basis. Moreover, the agencies dealing with the protection and evaluation of groundwater resources should be provided with more resources, having powers to curb the abuse of our very lifeline – the potable water. Since, various industrial and agricultural activities, amongst others, could potentially contaminate groundwater, therefore the planners of various development projects need to keep in mind the impact of such activities and discuss groundwater issues in the planning stage.

• The management of solid waste, that is, its storage, collection, transportation and disposal, is the responsibility of city municipality/local govt. They will have to devise means and methods to address this important issue. Sparing even a little money from mismanagement/corruption, can buy and maintain all the necessary equipment and pay for the experts consultation fees to  help address this very important issue. Unless that happens nothing will change or as the saying goes: ‘do nothing, nothing will change; do something and something will change – it’s time to intervene for a positive change and we all need to work towards achieving the goal of a ‘comprehensive sewerage system for Quetta and its people’.

Related topics

• Quetta’s honour in atmospheric pollution by Ayub Tarin (BBC Urdu)
• Pollution of groundwater

References

Bazai, Z. A. & Achakzai, A. K., (2006): Effect of wastewater from Quetta City on the germination and seedling growth of lettuce (Lactuca sativa L.). Journal of Applied Sciences 6 (2): p 380-382

Kazmi, A. H., Abbas, S. G. and Younas, M. (2005): Water resources and hydrogeology of Quetta basin. Geological Survey of Pakistan, special publication.

Khan, S. D., Mahmood, K., Sultan, M. I., Khan, A. S., Xiong, Y & Sagintayev, Z. (2009): Trace element geochemistry of groundwater from Quetta Valley, western Pakistan. Journal of Environmental Earth Sciences. doi: 10.1007/s12665-009-0197-z

Majeed, A. (2004): Balochistan – Water Sector Issues and Options. In: World Water Day 2004 – water and Disasters (IUCNP).

Morris, B. L., Lawrence, A. R. L., Chilton, P. J. C., Adams, B., Calow, R. C. and Klinck, B. A. (2003): Groundwater and its Susceptibility to Degradation: A Global Assessment of the Problem and Options for Management. Early Warning and Assessment Report Series, RS. 03-3. United Nations Environment Programme, Nairobi, Kenya.

Pye K. & Krinsley, D. H. (05 September 1985): Formation of secondary porosity in sandstones by quartz framework grain dissolution. Nature 317, 54 – 56; doi:10.1038/317054a0

Qutub, S. A., Salam, N. A., Shah, K., & Anjum, D. (PIEDAR Report July 2008): Subsidy and sustainability in urban sanitation: The case of Quetta Katchi Abadis Environment Management Programme 1997-2003. Waterlines: vol. 27, No.,3, July 2008, pp. 205-223 (19); doi: 10.3362/1756-3488.2008.024

Acknowledgement

My special thanks go to Mohibullah Kakar, a Ph. D student at the Leicester University, for assisting me with my untimely requests for references that I make from time to time. Mananna, khushaal wosey.

In writing Part one I made extensive use of UNEP Publication (Morris et al 2003);  I would recommend it to anyone who wishes to have a better understanding of water related issues.

Addendum

Composition of the sewage

It has been shown that sewage contains over 99% water; the other impurities being as follow:

Micro-organisms: these are often disease causing organisms (pathogens), including bacteria, viruses, protozoa and parasitic worms.

Phosphorous compounds: these are present in human wastes (faeces) and in detergent. Upto 10 to 15 mg per litre of sewage

Nitrogen compounds: These are mainly in the form of ammonia and urea. Typical values are up to 55 mg per litre of sewage.

Suspended solids: inert material such as sand and organic solids such as food scraps are included in this category, typical values for per litre of sewage could be around 250 mg.

Organic matter: this parameter is usually measured by BOD (Biological Oxygen Demand) or COD (Chemical Oxygen Demand). This can include faeces, fats and soils. Typical BOD levels in sewage are 250 mg per litre.

In addition to the above rags, plastics, sanitary products and other large solids can also be part of the sewage. Furthermore, trace amounts of other compounds such as heavy metals and various organic compounds (e.g., pesticides and weedicides) will also be present, even in purely domestic sewage and in higher level if incorrectly treated trade wastes have entered the sewage system.

A view of Quetta city from Shaaldara, overlooking Muree-Brewery hills to the west (see Fig. 6 for reference). Photo: Mohammed Ali Musa.

Hmmm! Let’s see if they could sort out their mess!

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[i] After a few centuries the residents of modern Quetta (if that ever happened!) would excavate all these pipes again and would claim they have discovered an old, modern and sophisticated civilization whose sewage pipes were so clean that God knows what they did with their drainage wastes! Documentaries will be made and specialists from around the world would be consulted to solve the enigma. And then finally some clever guy will come with the idea that these pipes were never used and that the money meant for the project was misused by few who were entrusted with this project!