THE recent incidents of mountain fires in Shangla, Swat, Buner, Dir and Waziristan are just part of the misery heaped on residents either by nature or human activities. The residents continue to face hardships for doing things that are a walk in the park for a city dweller. For instance, they have to walk for miles to fetch clean drinking water.

Even before the wildfires engulfed mountain peaks and forests, the drying up springs across the mountainous areas of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were in the news, but could not draw widespread attention.

In Upper Dir, most residents living on mountain tops have long hired private water suppliers to buy water that lasts for a day or so. In summer, they have to pay double the price for the same amount of water.

I fear the people of Shangla district are going to suffer the same fate soon. Most people here depend on mountain springs for both drinking and domestic purposes. However, these springs are drying up fast primarily due to scant rainfall, giving residents sleepless nights.

Part of the problem is that most residents are not used to drinking water from the tube wells or even stored water. Those who do use stored water often fail to follow best practices, leading to waterborne diseases, especially the children and the elderly.

The wildfires have added to residents’ worries, depriving them of natural resources, such as forests, green meadows, springs and even livestock.

The residents of Shangla and other affected areas hope the government and relevant stakeholders would spare some time to address their genuine issues.

Ansar Ullah
Shangla

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2022