HARIPUR: The residents of Khalo village in Ghazi tehsil have demanded the immediate relocation of high-tension transmission lines passing over two schools, saying the proposed move will keep the children out of harm’s way.

Javed Khan told reporters here that an 11000kv high-tension electricity line passed over the buildings of the Government High School for Girls and Government Primary School for Boys, Khalo, while a 50kv power transformer was installed inside the boys’ school and thus, endangering the life of hundreds of students.

He said a teacher was recently electrocuted in a school of Kevai Balakot school, while a similar incident killed two students and injured three in the Government Primary School of Aldho village, Ghazi tehsil, two years ago.

Residents complain repeated requests to Pesco fell on deaf ears

Another villager, Naveed Malik, said the high-voltage transmission lines and transformer in schools had worried parents about the life of students on campus.

He complained that the repeated complaints of teachers and parents to the education department and Pesco officials about the danger had fallen on deaf ears.

When contacted, teacher Atif Malik said the boys school had more than 200 kindergarten-fifth grade students, while over 1,000 children were enrolled in the girls school.

He said lavatories of the boys school were built close to the electrical poles carrying high-transmission lines and 50kv transformer and thus, endangering the life of students.

Sub-divisional education officer (primary) Mian Abid was not available for version on the matter.

However, a local Pesco official said the transmission lines were laid much before the schools were built and so, the education department was blameworthy.

The official said the problem could be resolved within a week if local MNA and power minister Omar Ayub Khan issued orders for it.

CHILD MOLESTED: A teenage boy was sexually assaulted in the Shah Maqsood union council here.

He told the police that a local resident assaulted him in the morning at gunpoint and warned him against reporting the assault.

Doctors at a local hospital confirmed molestation after examination.

The police arrested the suspected culprit after registering a case under Section 377 of the PPC.

MAN KILLED: Gunmen killed a man and injured his father over rivalry in Panian village here.

Kotnajibullah police said Sher Afsar and his sons, including Yousuf, Abbas and Saeed, fired gunshots at Habibur Rehman and his father, Sakhi Sultan, outside the latter’s house on Tuesday evening, and fled.

Habibur Rehman died instantly, while his father suffered critical injuries and was shifted to DHQ Hospital Haripur but was referred to the Ayub Medical Complex Abbottabad due to critical condition.

Published in Dawn, September 20th, 2018