SARGODHA: Up to 77 per cent of the people of the Sargodha city are using contaminated water, according to a report by the soil testing laboratory, submitted to the chief minister.

The report says the union councils along the canal and water course have bit clean water while the water supply in the remaining union councils contains arsenic.

INDUSTRIAL ZONE: Former Sargodha Chamber of Commerce and Industry president Fazalur Rehman has appealed to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to fulfill his promise of setting up of an industrial estate in Sargodha along the motorway so that the district also utilise its resources for its development. He demanded the estate should be declared a tax-free zone for 10 years.

SCHOOLS: Up to 80 per cent of the private schools remained closed in the district on Tuesday as per their strike against a regulatory bill.

The closure of schools upset the students busy preparing their annual examinations.

Parents said the government had no control over the schools that were extorting money from parents on one pretext or the other.

Ghulam Husain, a private company employee, said the school management increased fees frequently and the government had taken a right measure to control schools.

He said he feared the government would succumb to schools’ pressure.

Published in Dawn, March 10th, 2016