Policy Dialogue on Water Wisdom Balochistan under a HEC-funded project organised by BUITEMS, Quetta

The policy dialogue on “Water Wisdom Balochistan” was organised with the support of the LCF-HEC-funded project titled “Metering the Aquifer: Implementing a Smart Monitoring and Data-Driven Approach for Developing an Adaptive Groundwater Management Strategy in Balochistan.” This event was a collaborative effort between BUITEMS, Quetta, and USPCAS-W of Mehran University of Engineering & Technology (MUET), Jamshoro. The dialogue took place at the BUITEMS Takatu Campus on October 3, 2023. The opening remarks were given by Dr. Jan Muhammad, Vice Chancellor of Turbat University, Balochistan, and Principal Investigator (PI) of the project.

The project activities were presented by Prof. Dr. Abdul Latif Qureshi (PI-MUET) and Dr. Arjumand Zaidi (CoPI-MUET). Mr. Muhammad Afzal Jamali (senior geologist) has presented the report of the groundwater investigation carried out in the central, southern, and northern areas of the Quetta Valley and its surrounding areas. The discussions revolved around improving the availability, management, and digitization of reliable water data. Prof. Dr. Raheela Umer and Prof. Dr. Naeem Shawani from BUITEMS expertly moderated the policy dialogue and summarised its findings as policy recommendations.

Under this local challenge fund (LCF) project, twelve data loggers are installed in the Quetta Valley to monitor groundwater. The MUET and BUITEMS teams visited one of its automatic data loggers at the BUITEMS campus before the event.

To bridge the communication gap between the stakeholders and provide innovative technological solutions, dignitaries and experts from various organisations actively engaged in the dialogue and provided valuable recommendations. Representatives from the Food and Agricultural Organisation (FAO), the Secretary of Public Health Engineering, the chief engineer and senior groundwater expert (Mr. Mazhar) from the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), the director general agriculture department, faculty members from BUITEMS and Agriculture College, Quetta, and various governmental as well as non-governmental organisations (NGOs) participated in the event. Aforeign experts, Mr. Jelle Beekma and Mr. Karim Nawaz Baloch, represented, respectively, the Balochistan Water Resources Programme’ (BWRP) and surface irrigation. They have described the need for groundwater investigations and emphasised the importance of digitising reliable data. Additionally, they shared various innovative solutions.

The Mehran University team comprised Dr. Qureshi, Dr. Zaidi, Dr. Asmat Ullah (socio-economist), Dr. M. Afzal Jamali (senior geologist), Mr. Shahzad (project research associate), and several research assistants (Mr. Areeb, Ms. Ghanwa, and Ms. Sania). The project research associate and assistants would remain on-site for five additional days to conduct in-depth field investigations, covering aspects such as assessments of well lithology and water table, the deployment of data sensors, and conducting socio-economic surveys at the study sites. A media specialist (Mr. Muzzafar) from MUET joined the event and the field team to capture essential footage and clips for the project’s documentary.