KOHAT: Residents of Zargari area of Hangu district have demanded replacement of the main water pipeline laid in 1998 to resolve the problem of low pressure and early construction of the road which was in disrepair since long.

When contacted, Public Health Engineering Department, Hangu district, executive engineer Barkat Ullah said that they had laid the pipeline for 20 years and it had completed its life span. He said that during the last many years no new project could be started due to funds shortage.

Answering a question, he regretted that when they cut the illegal water connections the lawmakers and officials from Peshawar head office asked for their restoration. He said that as the pressure was low the people had got connections from different points of the old pipeline in a competition to get more water.

He said that the Alikhel tribe of Orakzai, which migrated here years ago, had also constructed houses. He said that in fact they had constructed the 30,000 gallons of overhead tank for the people of Zargari only.

Answering a question, MNA Khayal Zaman said that it was not a city and they had to treat the people as villagers and tribesmen and avoid taking any extreme measures against them.

He said that construction of the main road had been sanctioned. He said that the pipeline would be laid soon after allocation and approval of required funds.

The executive engineer said that Rs4 million had been earmarked for the new pipeline, but not received yet.

Talat Hussain, an official of C&W department, said that they had told the contractor to complete work on Kahi-Zargari road by September 30. It was stated that the PC-1 of the bazaar road was completed, but funds had not been released for it. The tehsil municipal administration was also a stakeholder in the project. The earlier road made by the TMA had been washed away.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2020