KOT Asadullah and Kalalanwala are not obscure villages that invite researchers to explore their hidden mysteries. They are located only a small distance away from Lahore along GT Road and are known for the hazards they pose to their residents — the two villages infamously have a high prevalence of people with physical impairments, most notably of the limbs. It has been close to two decades since Kalalanwala hit the news with a series of reports on its residents’ physical handicaps. In many cases, the featured victims of this condition are children and young adults. It did not take very long for the ‘cause’ to be pointed out. And the suspicion is that some ‘experts’ already had a fair idea of what was wrong with the place: its groundwater. The water was contaminated to a point where it now threatened to cripple for life large groups of people, their system weakened by constant consumption over a long period of time. With civilisation having entered the 21st century, with all its advances in modern and safe living, much concern was expressed. That there has been little by way of remedy for these unfortunate villages has been confirmed by a new feature in the papers of late, in which the focus is on the perils of leaving people exposed to highly toxic water. There seems to have been no progress on the matter over the past two decades.

However, much has changed in Kot Asadullah and Kalalanwala in this period. Both have been, off and on, in the news — the intensity of attention varying from time to time. Many residents are said to have left their old homes to resettle in other, safer neighbourhoods. Farmers who have lived and worked here for many generations have been forced to sell their lands and many a soul has had to take up other means of earning. Yet, shockingly, there appear to be no conclusive answers. A whole lifestyle has been lost, ruined by conditions that surely do not appear insurmountable.

Published in Dawn, May 14th, 2018