LAHORE, Nov 18: Several Wahdat Colony families visited hospitals and private clinics on Sunday for check-ups after the recovery of a body from a water-tank.

“It is hard to believe that we have been using blood-mixed water for whole six days,” a resident, Nusrat Amin, told this reporter who visited the locality on Sunday.

Nobody was using the water since the recovery of the body from the water-tank, he claimed.

Residents were either bringing water from nearby localities or from houses having hand-pumps, another resident Naveed said, adding that long queues were witnessed outside the houses getting water from other tanks.

Besides, there were at least three people who claimed to have gone atop the water-tank at the time of the recovery of the body. One of them was the SHO of the police concerned who initially said: “Please don’t talk about this. I myself have been using that water. It irritates me when I think of it.”

Later, the SHO claimed that there were two open manholes atop the water-tank which were supposed to be covered. The water was exposed to all kinds of hazards, he said, adding that it was literally a filth depot up there with all sorts of polythene bags and fungus.

The SHO claimed that he would lodge a written complaint with the Wasa authorities in this regard. Wasa staff of the water-tank was being included in the investigation of the case, he said. Because, he believed, nobody could go up there without the consent of the staff. Two more witnesses to the ugly scene narrated almost the same story.

The residents of the locality also claimed that they would also lodge a complaint in this regard and requested the authorities concerned to look into the matter.