The plight of neglected District Dukki

By Hidayat Khan

This is the spiel of the deprived district in Balochistan. Located in the Craggy and petrified mountains of Balochistan, district Dukki, also known as the city of Black diamond due to the natural resources of Coal. This district is neglected since the inception of Pakistan. The City is a Historical place with rich and fertile soil and a hub of economic activities. As we enter the third decade of the 21^st century, the locals of District Dukki still don’t have the facility of Qualified Lady doctor. The Civil Hospital of District is a ghost house, with no medical equipment, trained and professional Doctors and Emergency wards. A recent report from the home affairs department of Balochistan reveals that fifteen doctors including surgeons and specialists are posted in civil hospital Dukki. But the fact is that none of the posted doctors has even dared to travel to their concerned hospital. Despite getting a huge amount of salaries from the government, these doctors have been portraying head in the sand behaviour. Due to this negligence and shortage of provisions, an average of two women daily succumb to death. In the case of delivery, when someone tries to reach the capital city ( Quetta ), the roads prove to be fatal and transportation does the rest of the work. Moreover, the labourers working in the coal mines also get fatal injuries while working, underground in mines. On average, this deprived City produces a sum of 1 billion rupee’s but is still short of any infrastructural and developmental projects. This is a concern of a high level and needs to be resolved on an immediate basis. We, therefore, demand from the authorities and health ministry of Balochistan to kindly look at the matter as the lives of thousands of people are at stake.