MANSEHRA: Torghar’s local government chairmen on Sunday sought support from non-governmental organisations to rehabilitate infrastructure destroyed during natural calamities and to expand essential services to households still deprived of those in the far-flung villages of the district.

“We do not have electricity transmission lines in most of the district and are completely reliant on micro-hydropower units, which were washed away in the 2022 floods and an NGO recently rehabilitated three of them,” Taib Khan, chairman of Village Council Darbani, told reporters.

He said that the four-year of the local governments’ term in Hazara division were going to be over next month, but they were still deprived of funds, honorarium and powers enshrined in the LG Act 2013, resulting in people without adequate civic infrastructure.

“Three small hydropower units, which are the only source of electricity, five water supply schemes and two irrigation channels washed away in floods some three years ago are recently rehabilitated by Sungi Development Foundation with the financial assistance of Pakistan Poverty Alleviation Fund, benefiting over 1200 households,” he said.

He said NGOs work in collaboration with local communities and later hand over those projects as ownership, which was theessence of the grassroots governance system.

The chairman of Village Council Khnar Sharif, Gul Jamal, criticised the government for paralysing the local government system by depriving their voters of civic and other services for the last four years.

He said that more NGOs should step forward in remote village councils to end water scarcities while introducing rainwater harvesting systems.

Published in Dawn, February 16th, 2026