KARAK, April 23: Drinking water being supplied in Karak city contains a large quantity of pollutants and has been found unfit for human consumption, sources in the tehsil municipal administration (TMA) told this correspondent.

They said that water samples from three functional tube wells of the TMA were sent to Peshawar for laboratory analysis, which found that the water contained chemicals and other pollutants.

They said that as per laboratory test every litre of drinking water being supplied from the TMA tube wells contained 75 milligram of calcium, 50mg solids, 200mg chloride and over 500mg of hardness.

The sources said that total drinking water need of Karak city was 12,000 litres a day, but the TMA was providing only 4,000 liters. The residents have been facing acute shortage of water while two of the five TMA tube wells are dysfunctional.

They said that 80 per cent residents of the city had to buy drinking water from owners of private tankers for Rs1,000 per tanker. They said that the residents who got water from the TMA tube wells did not pay their bills regularly despite the TMA officials' meetings with the elders to evolve a strategy for collection of monthly charges.

When contacted, Karak TMO Abdul Ghaffar Khattak said that due to poor financial conditions of the TMA they were unable to install new tube wells for supply of potable water. He said that more tube wells were urgently needed to overcome the water crisis in the city.

He said that the government even did not provide a tractor to the TMA for disposal of solid waste and the workers used handcarts for the purpose.

Mr Khattak said that the TMA urgently needed Rs10 million to pay the salaries to workers and ensure provision of municipal services to the residents.