LANDI KOTAL, July 7: The tribal women and children from the Sheikhwal village in Landi Kotal tehsil had blocked the Peshawar- Landi Kotal road for several hours to protest against the shortage of drinking water in the area.

The protesting women and children came out on the road at about 10am and blocked the traffic for more than three and a half hours. The blockade was lifted after an assurance by the political administration that the issue would be resolved soon.

Landi Kotal and its adjoining areas are facing an acute water shortage for the last six months. The women and children are seen carrying water buckets on their heads. They have to travel five to six kilometres on foot every day to fetch a bucket of water.

Water supply from Ali Masjid, Landi Khana and various tubewells has considerably reduced due to less rains over the years.

The residents used to receive water from the Mirza Hill reservoir and five tubewells in the Zakhakhel area. But now half of the water from reservoir is consumed by the army stationed in a nearby camp and three out of the five tubewells are out of order and have not been repaired. The operators of these tubewells have also not been paid salaries for the last six months.

Now-a-days, over 50 private water tankers are supplying water from the Ali Masjid to the area. They charge between Rs500 and Rs800 per trip, which everyone cannot afford. The administration is also supplying water to their favourites through Parchi system.

Saturday’s protest was not the first one. On several occasions in the past the tribal women at come out on the road to draw attention to various problems.