LAKKI MARWAT: Consumption of contaminated water is causing different diseases to people in various rural and urban areas of the district, say local residents.

They said that in many urban and rural localities people used water of ponds and broken tubewells for drinking purpose. “The water is not fit for human consumption and causes several diseases,” they added.

They said that government sank tubewells in rural and urban areas to provide drinking water to people but it ignored the fact that provision of clean water without installation of purification plant was not possible.

In 2005, the military government of retired General Pervez Musharraf launched a project to set up Sa-Safe Water Purification Plants in all union councils across the country. The project of installation of water purification plant in Lakki City-I union council was completed in 2006.

Residents say water in many areas of the district not fit for human consumption

The plant was made functional in 2007 but it failed to provide clean drinking water to the residents of the urban locality for a long time. It went out of order months after it was inaugurated.

A local resident said that the facility remained operational for few months. He said that local people would fetch water from it in cans and buckets for drinking purpose. “The filtration plant facility was a blessing for us,” said a trader, who runs a grocery shop at main bus stand.

Minhaj, a social activist, said that people in rural areas used rainwater, accumulated in ponds, for drinking purpose. “The residents of rural areas do not have any knowledge about the water filtration plant,” he added.

Minhaj said that faulty and broken tubewells further aggravated situation in rural areas. He said that use of contaminated water was the main reason of prevalence of diseases in urban and rural localities of the district.

“Ailments like jaundice, diarrhoea and typhoid are common in the district and tehsil municipal administration can be blamed for it,” said Sabz Ali, a political activist.

TMA: The local residents have asked the tehsil municipal administration to make arrangements for removing the remains of sacrificial animals during Eid days.

They said that residents of urban areas slaughtered animals in their houses and streets but many of them did not bother to dispose of the offal and remains of sacrificial animals properly.

The residents said that remains of animals remained in the streets for several days as TMA employees did not perform duty during Eid. “The authorities of municipal administration should devise a mechanism for removal of offal and remains of sacrificial animals,” they added.

SCHOOL: The elders of Mela Shahabkhel village have demanded of provincial government to name the village’s only high school after Lt Adnan Bashir.

They said that Lt Adnan Bashir was killed in Orakzai Agency during a gun battle with terrorists in November 2011. “Adnan was a brave soldier and he showed gallantry in fighting against militants in the tribal area,” they added.

They said that authorities should name the only high school for boys in Mela Shahabkhel village after Adnan Bashir to pay tributes to his sacrifice.

Published in Dawn September 13th, 2016