PESHAWAR: Residents of Landi Kotal tehsil of Khyber tribal agency on Wednesday took out a procession and demonstrated outside the Governor House here against non-availability of drinking water in their area, and warned to block the Torkham highway if work on a suspended water supply scheme was not resumed immediately.

The protesters led by Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam-Fazl, Khyber Agency general secretary Ijaz Shinwari marched on the Sher Shah Suri Road from the Peshawar Press Club to the Governor House. The procession kept the road blocked, causing hardships to commuters.

The protesters were holding banners and placards inscribed with demands for supply of drinking water and completion of an old scheme at the earliest.

Speaking on the occasion, the JUI leader said people in Landi Kotal were facing acute water shortage and the political administration was least bothered to take notice of their suffering.

“Former KP governor Syed Iftikhar Hussain Shah had approved a water supply scheme from Shalman in 2004 but it was left halfway and as a result the people have been facing hardships,” he recalled.

He said at least 300,000 people were facing water shortage and they had the only option to fetch water from natural springs located in far off hilly areas. He said the drought had further added to the problems which forced them to come to the streets.

Published in Dawn, September 14th, 2017