PESHAWAR, Aug 6: Pakistan Tehrik-i-Insaf’s sole MPA in the NWFP Assembly, Mian Nisar Gul Kakakhel has said the persisting water problem in Karak can be overcome through the construction of small dams in the district.

Talking to Dawn here on Wednesday, Mian Nisar said that scarcity of drinking water could be overcome through the construction of small reservoirs on natural water courses to store the rainwater.

The storage of rainwater at feasible points would raise the receding water table, he said, observing that there was no other solution to water problem except the construction of small reservoirs.

When pointed out that a small dam already constructed at the Zaibi village in the Karak Tehsil was not functioning since its completion a few years back. He said the chief minister had recently issued directions to make the project functional.

“We are making efforts to secure funds for the project from which drinking water would be supplied to the Karak town and the small villages on the pipeline route,” he said.

The Zaibi dam completed at a cost of Rs six million by the now defunct Public Health Engineering Department is full to capacity. The recent rainfall has also brought enough water to the dam, but the project is still lying abandoned.

More small dams have been planned to be constructed in the hilly areas of Karak district to store the flow of rainwater and solve the water problem, but taking precedent of the Zaibi dam, all the proposed projects are likely to go either into cold storage or fall prey to the authorities’ inaction or political expediency.