Pir Koh, June 15 -- In Balochistan's drought-stricken sub-tehsil of Pir Koh, over 50,000 residents are in the grip of a deepening humanitarian crisis triggered by an acute shortage of clean drinking water.

Despite lying adjacent to Sui, home to one of Pakistan's largest natural gas fields, the people of Pir Koh are facing the unbearable irony of resource-rich poverty, as the state fails to provide them with their most basic necessity, water.

This is not a natural disaster, but a man-made catastrophe, born of decades of state neglect and systemic underdevelopment. With summer temperatures soaring, families are either abandoning their homes in search of water or protesting in the streets. Many have reported serious health complications du...