MANSEHRA: Residents, including local government representatives, on Saturday took to the streets to protest the shortage of drinking water in Mansehra city and its suburbs, criticising the tehsil municipal administration for failing to address the issue.

Chairman of Neighborhood Council No I Abdul Waheed told protesters on the Kashmir Road that Ramazan was just around the corner but the people had no water to drink for many weeks.

“TMA has suspended water supply from its schemes, to ourmisery,” he insisted.

The resident said one of the water schemes proposed by TMA for urban areas had been completed but it had yet to become functional, worsening the water crisis in the area.

DC orders early operationalisation of water scheme

The demonstrators, including elderly people, said they would continue protesting until the issue was resolved.

They later met with deputy commissioner Khalid Iqbal, who ordered early operationalisation of the completed water scheme.

Also in the day, the families affected by the Diamer-Basha Dam in Upper Kohistan district took to the streets to demand the release of Rs520 million and the provision of a kitchen package.

“We have been blocking the Karakoram Highway for around three hours daily for the last week demanding that Wapda make payments for our land acquired for the Diamer-Basha Dam, but to no avail,” Harbantehsil council chairman Asadullah Qureshi told reporters.

He said the families whose land was acquired for the country’s largest hydropower project had been protesting for the last week as Wapda had yet to clear Rs520 million in compensation of land acquired in Upper Kohistan.

“Our delegation met with Wapda officials to seek resolution of our grievances, including payments and kitchen package, but despite their assurances, action is still awaited,” he said.

The tehsil chairman said Wapda had yet to clear payments of Rs3.5 million each for 350 families under the kitchen package, which was meant for all the families whose houses were acquired by Wapda.

“We will not call off this protest until we’re compensated and given the kitchen package,” he said.

Mr Qureshi warned if Wapda failed to address people’s concerns, they would block the road indefinitely.

Meanwhile, Judicial Commission of Pakistan member and MPA Munir Hussain Lughmani on Saturday lauded the appointment of Justice Ijaz Khan Swati as the chief justice of the Balochistan High Court.

The new chief justice hails from the Ahal area of Mansehra and is the first cousin of the late Justice Zeenat Khan Swati, former chief justice of the Gilgit-Baltistan Supreme Appellate Court, and senior lawyer Wajid Khan Swati.

Mr Lughmani told reporters that Justice Swati had an outstanding career as a lawyer and was known for his integrity and his elevation as the chief justice was a great step towards addressing the backlog of court cases.

“People of Balochistan will greatly benefit from Justice Swati’s professionalism and expertise,” he said.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2025