MANSEHRA: The residents of Atlar village in Torghar district have complained about the unavailability of basic facilities.

They said around 600 families lived in the village, which stood on a hilltop in Judbah, the district headquarters.

“Our village, which has mud houses only, is without all basic facilities

from drinking water to electricity to roads to education and healthcare,” resident Abdul Waris told Dawn.

He said women walked miles in the mountainous terrain to fetch water for domestic use.

The villager said more and more people were migrating from the area to Karachi for having no access to basic facilities.

Another resident, Malkaay Khan, said the district and tehsil administrations held open kutcherys across the district but their village was inaccessible to the deputy commissioner, assistant commissioner and other government officials.

He said before his election as MPA in 2018, Laiq Mohammad Khan visited the village and promised the construction of roads, establishment of schools and health centres, and supply of drinking water but the promises turned out to be false.

“MPA Laiq Mohammad Khan never came back,” he said.

The villager said the PTI government made big claims about healthcare and education in the province but they all were false when it came to Atlar.

Published in Dawn, June 5th, 2021