LAKKI MARWAT, Sept 18: People here are facing acute shortage of drinking water as several water supply schemes have been lying non-functional for the last couple of weeks.

Officials said that water supply schemes in Haqdadabad, Michenkhel and other parts of Lakki city were out of order and the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA) had failed to repair them.

Residents have been forced to buy water which has become profitable business in the area. They complain that the owners of donkey- and -horse carts are charging higher rates for transporting water.

Sources said that huge amounts were drawn from accounts of the TMA Lakki every two or three months in the name of rectification of faulty tube wells.

They alleged that some officials of the administration were involved in the embezzlement of funds allocated for the rectification of faulty tube wells in the annual budget of the Tehsil Council every year.

However, a TMA official said that low voltage and frequent power disruption are the main reason for non-functional of tube wells. “A proper monitoring system of water supply schemes prevails in the TMA.”

He said that staffers and employees deputed at the water supply schemes had been punished for negligence in the past. He said that funds earmarked for repairing faulty tube wells had been spent in accordance with specification and on need basis and not a single example of collecting donations from the community could be found.

People have urged the provincial government to solve the problem of shortage of drinking water in Lakki city.