Kurram District Issues
Kurram District (population 785,434, area 3,380 km²), a mountainous border district in Kohat Division, borders Afghanistan and relies on subsistence agriculture, informal labour, cross-border trade, and chromite, soapstone, and coal mining, with significant untapped marble reserves. Despite its natural resources, the district faces limited infrastructure and comparatively sparse development data following its merger into Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in 2018.
1. Road Infrastructure
A mountainous border area with poorly developed, frequently disrupted road networks; farm-to-market roads and Afghanistan trade corridors lack widening and asphalt maintenance.
2. Water Crisis
Underdeveloped canal systems and unpredictable rainfall constrain agricultural and domestic water supply, causing frequent seasonal droughts and underutilized farming potential.
3. Health
District health centers and BHUs face shortages of life-saving medicines, specialty care doctors, female healthcare staff, and updated diagnostic equipment.
4. Unemployment
Economic instability, limited border trade activities, and a lack of commercial or manufacturing industries leave youth dependent on subsistence agriculture and informal labor.
5. Environmental Challenges
Uncontrolled deforestation along mountain ridges, soil erosion, and land degradation from extreme weather events and flooding threaten the agricultural ecosystem.
In short — Kurram: Poorly developed mountain-border roads, underdeveloped canal systems and seasonal droughts, medicine/staff/equipment shortages at health centers, unemployment tied to limited border trade and industry, and deforestation-driven land degradation define Kurram’s priority issues.
Orakzai District Issues
Orakzai District (population 387,561, area 1,538 km²), like Kurram, was a FATA agency until the 2018 merger, and the same data-infrastructure caveats apply. Coal mining is currently the district’s only significant commercial mineral activity, alongside copper and marble potential.
1. Road Infrastructure
Remote and rugged mountainous geography leaves link roads connecting remote valleys to main urban markets mostly unpaved or damaged.
2. Water Crisis
Clean drinking water access is severely limited, with many rural households relying on unsafe natural springs or traditional wells; irrigation infrastructure is inadequate for hilly farming terrain.
3. Health
Medical infrastructure remains weak in the post-merger era, with rural dispensaries struggling with staffing shortages, insufficient emergency care, and long travel distances to regional tertiary hospitals.
4. Unemployment
A major issue due to lack of industrialization, low vocational training options, and heavy reliance on limited coal mining and seasonal agricultural jobs.
5. Environmental Challenges
Deforestation driven by timber demand, alongside environmental degradation and unsafe working conditions around local coal mines, damages forest land and natural water channels.
In short — Orakzai: Unpaved/damaged valley roads, unsafe-spring and well-dependent water access, post-merger health-staffing gaps, unemployment tied to limited coal mining and seasonal agriculture, and deforestation/unsafe coal-mining conditions define Orakzai’s priority issues.
Kohat Division: Summary & New Province Demand
Kohat Division’s 3,752,436 residents across 12,377 km² face a governance architecture that concentrates health, education, and administrative capacity in Kohat District while Hangu, Karak, Kurram, and Orakzai continue to face acute road, water, health, and employment-linked development gaps — despite the division’s substantial oil, gas, gypsum, and mineral wealth.
| Indicator |
Hangu |
Karak |
Kohat |
Kurram |
Orakzai |
| Population (2023) |
528,902 |
815,878 |
1,234,661 |
785,434 |
387,561 |
| Area |
1,097 km² |
3,372 km² |
2,991 km² |
3,380 km² |
1,538 km² |
| Tehsils |
2 |
3 |
4 |
3 |
2 |
| Key economic base |
Oil/gas/coal/limestone potential |
Oil, gas & salt reserves, uranium mines |
Energy, cement & light manufacturing |
Agriculture & cross-border trade |
Coal mining |
| Key vulnerability |
Road & water infrastructure |
Water scarcity & salinity |
Hospital & water capacity strain |
Road connectivity & health staffing |
Road access & post-merger health gaps |
Karak, Kurram, and Orakzai tehsil counts are inferred from Civil Courts tehsil listings; Hangu and Kohat tehsil counts are directly stated in the source. The division-wide tehsil total is reported as 17 in the source, though the district figures above sum to only 14 — reported as-is, not reconciled.
Governance deficit vs Peshawar Division
| Metric |
Kohat Division |
Peshawar Division |
| Poverty rate | 41% | 18% |
| Outdated/contaminated water infrastructure | 58% | 32% |
| Functional drainage & waste management coverage | 48% | 72% |
| Stunted growth (children) | 40% | 33% |
| Wasting (children) | 11.2% | 8.1% |
| Hospital beds per 1,000 | 0.38 | 1.15 |
| Teaching/specialized hospitals | 1 | 14 |
| Infant mortality (per 1,000 live births) | 68 | 44 |
| Under-5 child mortality (per 1,000 live births) | 82 | 53 |
| Health professionals per 1,000 | 0.45 | 1.62 |
| Out-of-school children | 32% | 19% |
| Net enrolment rate | 53% | 74% |
| Access to schools | 61% | 88% |
New province demand: the case
- Health overload: LMH and KDA Hospital (Kohat) face critical diagnostic-staff shortages and lack round-the-clock ultrasound/CT/MRI capacity, while the division has just 1 teaching/specialized hospital against Peshawar District’s 14.
- Education shortfall: 32% of children are out of school (vs 19% in Peshawar District), net enrolment is only 53% (vs 74%), and school access is 61% (vs 88%).
- Maternal & child health gap: Infant mortality of 68 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality of 82 per 1,000 live births, both well above Peshawar District’s 44 and 53.
- Judicial backlog: Kohat Division has no dedicated permanent High Court Bench (unlike Abbottabad or D.I. Khan), so litigants must travel to Peshawar; approximately 3,850 Kohat Division cases are pending at the Peshawar High Court (about 8.1% of total PHC pendency), while lower courts across Kohat, Karak, Hangu, Kurram, and Orakzai have 6,420 criminal and 7,080 civil cases pending (13,500 total), with an estimated 12,000–15,000 (and separately, ~15,000) criminal/militancy cases registered annually.
- Infrastructure & funding gap: The division receives less than 6% (5.8% for FY2025-26) of KP’s development budget despite sitting on massive oil, gas, and gypsum reserves; urban drinking-water utilities face a daily supply deficit of over 5.5 million gallons versus demand.
- Employment gap: Despite being KP’s energy hub with significant oil, gas, and gypsum reserves, the division has a 22% youth unemployment rate due to a lack of local industrial processing.
In short — Kohat Division: A resource-rich division of 3.75 million people sitting on massive oil, gas, and gypsum reserves faces a governance paradox — Kohat District concentrates the division’s energy, cement, and administrative activity while Hangu, Karak, Kurram, and Orakzai face road deterioration, water scarcity, under-resourced health facilities, and unemployment despite the division’s energy wealth. A 41% poverty rate, 32% out-of-school children, no permanent High Court Bench, and just 5.8% of KP’s development budget underscore documented governance and investment gaps versus Peshawar Division. Addressing these deficits requires sustained investment in road connectivity, water management, health and education infrastructure, and local industrial value-addition across Hangu, Karak, Kohat, Kurram, and Orakzai.