LAKKI MARWAT: The government is all set to release water into the Marwat canal after 22 years as work on its rehabilitation nears completion.

“After devising water distribution mechanism water will be released into the canal after a long gap of 22 years,” an official told Bannu division commissioner Parweiz Sabatkhel on Sunday.

Mr Sabatkhel along with regional police officer Qasim Ali Khan visited the project site and inspected the ongoing work.

The official informed the visiting officers that Baran dam upraising and rehabilitation of 66-kilometre-long Marwat canal was nearing completion at a cost of Rs6 billion.

He said availability of water in the canal would help bring thousands of acres of land under cultivation in Lakki Marwat and Bannu districts.

The divisional commissioner directed speedy completion of the mega water project as it was a matter of life and death for residents of the region.

He declared that the project on completion would bring prosperity to the backward areas of the province.

He congratulated the residents of Bannu and Lakki Marwat on timely completion of the canal project.

TWO KILLED: Two people, including a young bridegroom, were killed and four others injured in separate firing and road-related incidents in Bannu and Lakki Marwat districts on Sunday.

Police said rivals shot dead Mohammad Wali, 23, over a petty dispute in Lakshory Bakkakhel area of Bannu. They said the deceased and the killers had exchanged harsh words a year ago.

The body was shifted to the District Headquarters Hospital for postmortem. In Lakki Marwat, a young man was killed and four others received injuries in a road accident. Police and witnesses said the accident occurred on Lakki-Tajazai Road near Wanda Kalan.

They said Muhammad Adeel along with relatives left his village in a car to bring his bride. “But the car capsized due to over-speeding, they maintained.

The police said five people were wounded in the incident, who were taken to a local hospital, wherefrom Adeel was referred to a Bannu hospital.

However, he succumbed to injuries there.

Published in Dawn, October 9th, 2023