MANSEHRA: Residents of Garhi Habibullah on Tuesday demanded of the government to immediately rehabilitate the Kashtara water supply scheme, which was destroyed in recent monsoon floods, depriving a large population of access to clean drinking water.

“The people of Kashtara and its adjoining localities have been facing an acute water shortage since the only water supply scheme was washed away in the recent floods,” resident Raja Ghulam Mustafa told reporters in Garhi Habibullah.

Led by Mr Mustafa, a group of local residents criticised civic agencies for their failure to restore the damaged water scheme.

“This pipeline system supplied water from a source located four kilometers away, but now it no longer exists after being swept away by flash floods triggered by the monsoon rains,” he added.

Mr Mustafa said the locals had approached the public health department demanding urgent restoration of the scheme, but to no avail.

He appealed to Federal Minister for Religious Affairs Sardar Mohammad Yusuf and local MPA Munir Hussain Lughmani to ensure the immediate rehabilitation of the water scheme.

MOU SIGNED: The police and the Rights Induced Journalism (RIJ), a non-governmental organisation, on Tuesday signed a memorandum of understanding to promote a gender-sensitive approach in registering FIRs and handling video and photographic evidence of gender-based violence.

“This initiative aims to pave the way for a rights-based approach in the registration of FIRs for GBV survivors, and to promote moral ethics in capturing and using video and photographic content as evidence in a court of law,” district police officer Shafiullah Khan Gandapur told the MoU signing ceremony held at his office. Mr Gandapur and RIJ’s founder and executive director Nisar Ahmad Khan signed the MoU.

Under the agreement, RIJ will provide training to district police personnel, 30 per cent of whom will be women, in gender sensitivity, ethical and responsive FIR lodging, and the responsible use of visual content as evidence in courts of law.

“We need to adopt modern policing practices under the vision of IGP Zulfiqar Hameed, which can only be achieved when personnel are equipped with the legal knowledge and understanding of laws related to harassment and gender-based violence under the Pakistan Penal Code and Code of Criminal Procedure,” Mr Gandapur said.

Speaking on the occasion, Nisar Ahmad said the initiative was designed to assist police officers, including lady constables, in handling gender-sensitive cases more effectively and respectfully.

Published in Dawn, July 30th, 2025