CHITRAL NEWS

   Published daily from Chitral,Pakistan

   Chief Editor: Wg Cdr (r) Fardad Ali Shah

 NEWS PAPERS: Dawn, TheNews, DailyTimes, TheNation, ThePost, PakTribune, PakObserver,  Statesman, FrontierPost,  Jang,  NawaeWaqt,  Khabrain, PakPapers, BBCUrdu, BizRecorder,   PakistanTimes, ThePakistaniNewspaper, HiPakistan, DailyAusaf, Jasarat, Express, NYork Times,  WashingtonPost, ChicagoTribune, TimesofIndia, DailyMail, IrishPost, TorontoStar, KhaleejTimes,  more..>>

   Homepage  Archive   Letters   Editorials   Flight Info   Obituaries   Messages   Weather  Advertise   Hist & Geog  Geography   Climate  Tourist

Now, water crisis !

CHITRAL, 22 July 08: The residents of Chitral city and its adjacent villages have complained of the acute shortage of drinking water for the last three months and alleged mismanagement in the water and sanitation unit (WSU) which manages the water supply to the area. They said that some ten years ago, the German-funded Angargoon water supply scheme was commissioned to work and the people heaved a sigh of relief as incessant supply of mineral water was ensured to them.

They said that the situation marched to the deterioration when WSU was taken over by tehsil municipal administration, Chitral in 2001. Arbitrary connections were provided to some villages and townships which were not included in the original plan of the scheme, they said. They said that the pressure of water flow dropped abysmally when the illegal connection was given to a township situated at a high altitude. They also complained that the WSU management do not bother to control the leakage of water by replacing the faulty water pipes as a result of which a huge volume of water goes waste.

They said that the pilferage of water also goes unchecked which causes loss to the organization on one hand and the wastage of water on the other. They said the present management removed the water meters and fixed the bill equally which resulted in the irresponsible use of water. They said that some of the areas of the city the daily load shedding of the commodity exceed more than twenty hours.

When tehsil nazim Chitral Sartaj Ahmed Khan, who is chairman of WSU by virtue of his office, was contacted by this scribe, to know his version, he said that financial crunch is the main factor which adversely affects the function of the organization. He said that despite his repeated demands, the provincial government did not consider grant-in-aid for it.

The tehsil nazim conceded that illegal connections to some areas have been given in the past which caused shortage of the commodity. He said that the 36-kilometers long Angargoon water supply scheme needs a general repair but for want of money this is not possible and the consumers are going to suffer. --(Zahiruddin)