LOWER DIR: Public Health Engineering Department’s executive engineer Khalid Gandapur said here on Wednesday that his department had restored 13 water supply schemes, which were damaged by floods, while rest of the 11 affected schemes would be made functional soon.

Talking to mediapersons here in Timergara, he said the provincial government had been asked to provide Rs75.5 million for rehabilitation of those schemes.

He said the flash floods had damaged 24 water supply schemes in the district.

Mr Gandapur said the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government had approved gravity schemes for provision of drinking water to the residents of Khall and Timergara.

Meanwhile, Lower Dir fisheries department on Wednesday released 35,000 tilapia fish into ponds and small lakes in the district to eliminate dengue larvae and stop spread of the fever.

District fisheries officer Sajjad Khan told mediapersons in Timergara that tilapia was a small fish that could be used against mosquitoes and dengue larvae.

SERVICES BOARD: Retired soldiers from different parts of Lower Dir on Wednesday demanded of the government and authorities concerned to shift the district armed services board from Malakand to Chakdara.

Talking to mediapersons in Chakdara, ex-servicemen Gul Zahid, Badshah Zada and others said most of the retired personnel were aged and they had to travel to Malakand Top in a hilly area to update their documents from the Soldiers’ Board.

They said the ex-employees and their widows from Dir, Chitral, Bajaur and Swat districts had to update their documents from the board located on the Batkhela-Mardan GT road.

Published in Dawn, October 6th, 2022