Human settlements around Saryab Road are oldest in the Quetta Valley and the indigenous people made the whole area a sprawling green belt of the provincial Capital ensuring supplies of fresh vegetables and most delicious fruits in commercial quantity.

The human settlements are spread over to 12 miles beginning from Awan-i-Kalat to Hazar Ganji or the foothills of Chiltan. More than 1.5 million people are residing in those human settlements on both sides of Saryab Road. Some bright political activists term the area as “Gaza Strip” of Balochistan where police action continued unabated for more than a decade.

The most depressing aspect is that the residents are denied a decent civic infrastructure since Pakistan was created or Balochistan was given the Provincial Status. Almost all the Governments in the past failed to provide better amenities and civic services to the local residents.

All the civic services, including roads, gas connections, electricity, footpaths, water supply and drainage system were confined to the commercial district of Quetta or areas close to the Government offices.

Saryab localities discriminated to a criminal extent. In fact, lack of Government or bureaucratic interest the Saryab localities were virtually reduced to slums though the money people, Government officials, former MNAs, MPAs and business people had built costly houses valuing hundreds of billions.

All investments in real estate are going waste in absence of a decent and efficient sewerage system from one corner of the Saryab Road to the other. Most of the attractive buildings, bungalows are sinking as the gutters are overflowing and open drain lines are busting its banks contaminating the entire localities with dirt and filth off and on.

Saryab localities once health resorts had now had been converted into slums where filth and dirt spreading diseases putting the life of the residents at serious risk.  The local residents are constantly facing the threat of epidemics in absence of a proper sewerage system.

The areas are highly polluted and people are suffering from various diseases increasing the load on the Government hospitals in a big way. Most of the patients at the Government hospitals are very poor and from the slum localities.

There is no doubt that Saryab Road localities were discriminated as the aliens dominated the civil and district administration. Most of the senior officials were aliens and they were all careerists and opportunists and used their posting in unattractive areas for their rapid promotions.

All top bureaucrats of Pakistan severed as Deputy Commission and Commissioner, Quetta and they failed to serve the oldest inhabitants of this provincial Capital. They were found least interested in their posting in Balochistan were found in a hurry to complete their tenure and go back to Islamabad.

There had been a need that Saryab Road localities should been integrated into greater Quetta development projects extending all the amenities and civic services to the people of those areas. Now the Government should launch the only mega project to uplift Saryab localities by providing them sewerage water facilities besides efforts to make the environment clean and friendly for the local residents.

The mega project should be the grand truck drain line from Hazar Ganji to Awan-i-Kalat passing on the main Saryab Road covering 12 mile area. The project should be multipurpose recycling waste water and reuse it to promote and develop the shrinking green belt around Quetta.

The recycling of waste water will save significant quantity of fresh water being used for car washing and other commercial purposes. Fresh water should be saved and reserved for drinking while the recycled water should be used for washing or non-drinking purposes.

It is beyond doubt that the PSDP schemes, both on-going and the new ones, will leave no impact on the provincial economy and Rs 76 billion money will definitely go waste even in this fiscal year. A couple of billions from the huge untidy PSDP be spared and diverted to build the grand truck drain line, the biggest project of the Provincial Capital.

The Chief Minister, who also owns his Jhalawan House on Saryab Road, should summon Minister in-charge and his ACS Development to launch the project without any delay. The Government is wasting wealth and resources of Balochistan on thousands of junk schemes, both on-going and new ones, and instead make significant investment on the multipurpose projects of sewerage and recycling was waste water and boost the green belt of Quetta.

The water recycling will boost primary production of vegetables and fruits and make available water for washing and planting trees or protecting the remaining trees in this Provincial Capital. The project will protect Quetta and its entire valley from an environmental disaster in future.