July 17, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 20, 1427

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ABBOTTABAD, July 16: Nathiagali, Ayubia and other tourist resorts have been experiencing acute water shortage for several days.

Chairman of the Nathiagali Hotel and Restaurants Association Sardar Jeenda Khan said on Sunday that tourists were leaving the area for other places, causing huge losses to local hotel industry.

He criticised the government and said that local tourism industry had been severely affected by the earthquake last year but the government had done nothing to repair the damaged infrastructure.

He said that many tourists were discouraged by the water situation when the tourism season began in July this year mainly because of ill planning of the Galyats Development Authority.

Mr Khan said that many people, who had built houses in Nathiagali and visited the area during vacations, had also been facing problems because of the shortage of water.

He urged the provincial government to hand the water distribution back to the Public Health or the C&W departments, adding the GDA, which had been assigned the task, had failed to cope with the situation.

He said that the situation was the same in Ayubia, Donga Gali and Changla Gali, adding that a proposal to build water storage tanks in Ayubia had not yet materialised.