MANSEHRA, June 1: Experts at an open forum stressed upon the government and other stakeholders to conserve water and take steps for providing pollutants-free drinking water to people to save them from different diseases.

“About 3.5 million people die every year because of water-related diseases around the world and most of victims of such diseases are children,” said the water experts while quoting figures of the World Health Organisation. They forum on ‘drinking water – a pipe dream’ was organised by Hazara University here the other day.

Dr Mohammad Suleiman, Siabban Development Organisation programme coordinator Sultan Hameed, Prof Shaukat Shah, a researcher of water borne diseases Zubair Faisal, Shoib Tahir, and Water Aid Pakistan programme manager Abdul Hafeez were among the speakers.

They said that there was lack of protected water channels and shortage of water testing facilities in Pakistan, particularly in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. They said that there was a dire need for creating awareness among general public of effects of consumption of contaminated water.

“The leakages in gutter lines resulting in contamination of drinking water in damaged supply lines in most of the cities have been causing diseases among people, particularly children,” said Mr Hameed.

Dr Suleiman said that access to potable water had been improved over last two decades in most parts of the world, butapproximately one billion people still lacked access to safe drinking water while over 2.5 billion were suffering due to inadequate sanitation.

Mohammad Bashir, infrastructure officer of Mansehra TMA, told the forum that people of Mansehra city and its adjoining areas needed about 12,00,000 gallons water daily, but currently they had been provided 400,000 gallons per day, causing scarcity of water in the city and its suburbs.

He said that the government of Japan would provide financial assistance to the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government for a water project for Mansehra.