INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
industrial and shipping hub, as part of the ambitious China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) project.The corridor is designed to give China
Now Gwadar is facing severe water issues
Some of the water coming in is contaminated, leading to an increase in waterborne illnesses such as hepatitis, he added.Tapping groundwater
and development secretary, told a government committee in December that the total demand for water in Gwadar city was 6.5 million gallons a
day, but tankers supplied only 2 million gallons.SATISFYING THIRSTTo help solve the water shortages two desalination plants have been built
in the port, with Chinese expertise
The smaller can provide 200,000 gallons of potable water per day to the port, while the larger one, recently completed in the adjacent
duty-free zone, can supply double that amount.Both plants rely on power from generators, as there is not enough grid power in Gwadar to run
Baloch, the director general of Gwadar Development Authority.Some fishermen say they now buy clean drinking water from the port, paying up
to 50 Pakistani rupees (around $0.40) for a three-liter can.Gul Mohammed, the operations director for the port authority, said his agency
water from the larger plant to the city of Gwadar at the rate of 0.98 rupees per gallon, but the Government of Balochistan has to sign an
dam, Rahim said.The army, tasked with protecting the CPEC project, meanwhile, also has laid the foundation for a large desalination plant to
be built with help from the United Arab Emirates and Switzerland.The plant, to be completed by July, will provide 4.4 million gallons of
water a day, free of cost, to the inhabitants of Gwadar city, according to an army press release.Providing better services, including clean
drinking water, is seen as a way of helping win local support for the development push.The army also has brought in specialist doctors to
supplement those already working at the local government-run hospital.A new road will soon connect the port to the Makran Coastal Highway,
which links Gwadar to Karachi
power plant around 20km (12 miles) from the port to provide electricity to Gwadar.Meanwhile, tourism has started too, and the port is
