In Quetta’s Kali Ismail area, near the Balochistan Board office on Samungli Road, 12-year-old Salman, a seminary student, rummaged through a garbage dumping site to pick up a baseball. He needed it for his next fastball to Akram, who stood poised to bat — right in the middle of the trash. “We’re used to playing here,” Salman shrugged. “We wash our hands with regular water.” Like many children in the area, he had no idea how hazardous the dumping ground could be to his health.

“It’s been five months, and there’s been no action from the authorities,“ lamented Jameel Langove, who runs a flour mill nearby. “The dumping ground has become a haven for drug addicts and immoral activities. It’s affecting our neighbourhood and our children.” He recounted how a recent storm had blown heaps of garbage into nearby homes. Living so close to the site, residents, particularly the elderly, now struggle with asthma and other breathing problems caused by dust and waste polluting the air.

Quetta, once fondly referred to as “Little London”, is buckling under a range of urban pressures: irregular development, an inadequate sewerage system, traffic congestion in the city centre, overflowing manholes, a shortage of clean drinking water, unmanaged dumping sites, unregulated crush plants, sewage water used for cultivation, a lack of green spaces and playgrounds, and narrow, clogged inner roads.

The Brewery Road bridge spans the city nullah

“Rapid expansion beyond the city’s original design — initially planned for around 100,000 residents — has resulted in a population exceeding 1 million. However, many of the master planning guidelines remain unimplemented,” lamented Sanaullah Panezai, an Associate Professor at the Department of Geography and Regional Planning at Balochistan University.

At the same time, Quetta faces acute vulnerability to natural and man-made hazards: floods, earthquakes, landslides, and urban disasters amplify planning failures. Panezai added that in 2022, floods caused significant damage to the city’s physical and water infrastructure.

To top it off, the city generates around 1,600 tonnes of garbage every day, yet only 400 tonnes are collected due to a severe funding shortfall. The city receives Rs1 billion for waste management — far below the Rs4 billion required.

Amid all this, Quetta’s bazaars, once bustling with colour and life, now lie under a pall of dust and decay. Areas such as Liaqat Bazaar, Prince Road, Gowrgath Singh Road, Sirki Road, Masjid Road, Jinnah Road, Kawari Road, Hazara Town, Marri Abad, Nawa Kili, Pashtoon Abad, and Sariab, along with the Western and Eastern Bypass roads, bear the marks of neglect.

If you ask the authorities, though, they will tell you all is well, coupled with promises laced in bureaucratic jargon of big projects and development.

Rafiq Baloch, Quetta development project director, told Dawn.com that 15 projects had been launched in recent years, 10 of which are now complete. These include the construction of 97 kilometres of internal streets in the Sariab area. Five more projects are currently in progress, he said, with roads being built alongside sewage systems to ensure proper water drainage. He also noted that six sports complexes have been completed across the city.

The city’s nullah runs outside the Balochistan environment department

And yet, none of this explains the state of the city. In recent years, for instance, the open sewage system at the intersection of Jan........

© Dawn Prism