MANSEHRA, April 6: The people of the Mansehra town are forced to live in insanitary conditions, as heaps of garbage continue to litter its streets and roads due to shortage of sanitation staff.

If the Mansehra municipal administration does not dispose of the garbage and clean the area, the pollution may cause the breakout of many deadly diseases, including malaria, in the coming months, particularly in summer.

According to a survey, conducted by Dawn, the population of the Mansehra town is about 60,000 and about 40,000 people, including workers and visitors, arrive here from other areas daily.

But the strength of the sanitation staff is only 89 out of which 67 are regular employees of the municipal administration and 22 work on daily wages. The shortage of staff has resulted in deterioration of sanitation conditions in the town.

In 1970, when a small town committee ran the civic affairs of the town, the strength of sanitation staff was 120 for a population of not more than 15,000.

A source in the administration informed Dawn that the main cause of mismanagement in the sanitation department was that an efficient and experienced sanitary inspector had not been posted for many years.

He said the sanitary inspector, presently working, had failed to perform his duties properly and that Sajjad Hussain Jhagra, the inspector of the municipal bus-stands, had been handed over the additional charge of the sanitary inspector. The area people complained that administration authorities had never taken the issue seriously.