LAKKI MARWAT: Elders of Ihsanpur here have asked lawmakers from the district to use their influence for securing development package for the rural areas located between the Gambila and Kurram rivers.

Talking to mediapersons here on Tuesday, Atlas Kamal and other villagers said that lack of interest on part of public representatives in resolving longstanding problems of the local residents had increased their deprivations.

They said that the rural population was confronting problems in the education, health, communication and other sectors since long, but the authorities of local and provincial governments were not providing them any relief.

They said that the villages and hamlets located in Ihsanpur area, including Wanda Bagni, Wanda Dolan, Kotka Wazirabad, Wanda Madukhel and Ajmal town, lacked road infrastructure and health facilities.

“The rural people remain disconnected from rest of the district during rains as mud tracks they use to go to Lakki city and other areas are inundated by water,” Mr Kamal said.

Residents complain lawmakers ignoring their welfare

He said that the entire rural locality had no dispensary or health unit owing to which patients were brought to hospitals in Lakki city.

“The residents are dependent on livestock for their livelihood, but the area lacks a veterinary hospital,” he added.

Mr Kamal regretted that cattle keepers often lost their domestic animals during epidemics as taking quadrupeds to Lakki city for treatment was a hard task for them.

The elders said that Wanda Bagni and Wanda Dolan were also lagging behind in female education as both rural localities lacked primary schools for girls.

They expressed their annoyance over delay in repair of faulty tube wells and said that the residents had no access to clean drinking water.

“The water supply pipelines are rusted while tube wells are out of order for last several years and people are dying due to consumption of contaminated water,” they said.

They demanded of the lawmakers to realise their responsibility and use influence to get sanctioned an uplift package for Ihsanpur from the provincial government.

Published in Dawn, February 27th, 2019