Local People’s Perceptions about Development of Gwadar Port and its Impacts on the Local Communities

Abstract

The study was conducted in Gwadar. Gwadar is a city in Baluchistan and it has gained much attention since the starting of CPEC. There are many development projects to uplift the area and betterment of the local people. Gwadar being declared a game changer for Pakistan, makes it a very necessary to be discussed in every aspect. Like the impacts of development on the local population, that how will they get effected by this development. Either in a good way or in a bad way, both were discussed and looked for in this research. How will the port operations effect the local Fishermen and the marine life there? How will the developments on the ground is going to affect their lives, culture, and their livelihood? Development has how much portion for locals in these projects and how much is there for the interest of investors and business community. Is the local population considered a stake holder in these mega projects or not, which are directly associated to these lands and waters? These are some of the main concerns to be discussed along with many others in this research, because when the name of Gwadar comes, we know the fact that Gwadar will be a completely changed one and a new one soon. But being an anthropologist Development is not our concern, but the effect of the development is our concern. So, this research was conducted to gather all the information related to these projects to see what the impacts and effects of Gwadar Port and CPEC are on the local population, who are the real owners and stakeholders of these lands and waters from centuries. As they are the first ones to witness these changes and developments. So, it’s necessary to ask them about their point of view about CPEC and Gwadar Port and the bounties and barriers regarding these projects. There must be some reservations and questions of local fishermen, boat makers, merchants, and other locals of Gwadar. Our focus of research is to dig-out such reservations, problems, benefits, and bounties faced by these locals and to narrate them in a proper presentable manner. It is expected that Gwadar port will be major contributor towards provincial as well as local economic betterment. By benefiting from the local projects, people can improve their living standard. There are few reservations of the locals about the Gwadar port and its related projects. Biggest concern of the local people is that they are afraid of demographic change as Gwadar would attract businessmen and people for investment and financial opportunities. People from different areas will come and demographic structure will be changes. It is also perceived by the local that natural resources also will be exploited by outsiders instead of for the locals. In this research it was tried to address as much of these reservations and problems of the locals so that a better and a clearer picture of Gwadar Port, CPEC and all such associated projects can be presented to the readers and future researchers and to give the ideas about the other side of the coin as there was very less or almost no information specifically related to the effects and impacts on the natives of the Coastal Belt. The research will help to understand the point of view of these local natives.