December 12, 2006	Tuesday	Ziqa'ad 20, 1427

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TOBA TEK SINGH, Dec 11: The broken pipeline has brought about the suspension of drinking water supply to various localities in the district headquarters for the last three days.

Reports said that a pipeline coming to the town from the new water supply works, constructed about a year back near Chak 323-JB (Trandi) on Toba-Gojra Road, had broken.

The worst-affected localities are Islampura, Raja Park, Heera Colony, Bhalair, Chaudhry Park, Garden Colony, Madina Colony, Yousaf Town and Gulistan Colony.

This new water works project, constructed by the Public Health Engineering Department, had been completed with Rs450 million funds approved by the Punjab chief minister.

While opposition members in the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) had often been complaining about the use of defective material in the water works project.

The opposition leader in tehsil council, Mian Ashraf Sheraz, claimed that misappropriation of millions of rupees by officials concerned had caused the failure of this project.

He said that his complaints and protests were on the record in minutes of meetings of the tehsil council, but no action was taken against the responsible officials. That was why, he said, that about one-third portion of the town was without potable water.

Mr Sheraz claimed that these localities had already been without potable water for four days when the same pipeline had developed leakage some three months ago.

When contacted, tehsil nazim Mian Javed Iqbal said that a small portion of pipeline had broken owing to some `technical mistake’ of TMA employees and it had nothing to do with the defective construction.

Denying that the water supply had been suspended to various localities, he said that alternate arrangements had immediately been made.

KILLED: Two persons were killed while 13 others sustained injuries, four of them serious, in an accident near Nawan Lahore on Monday.

Reports said that a speeding bus, coming to Faisalabad from Jhang, collided head-on with a wagon on Faisalabad-Jhang Road at Adda Chiraghabad, some 45 kilometers from here. As a result, Muhammad Ali of Faisalabad and Rashid of Bhakkar died instantly while another 13 passengers suffered injuries. They were shifted to Allied Hospital, Faisalabad, where the condition of four of them was critical.