Sanghar residents dying a slow death

Four dozen water supply schemes in the area have been non-functional since inception

SANGHAR: In other areas people are being killed by bullets, but here water kills us.

The remark by Pakistan Muslim League-Functional leader Nand Kumar depicts the severity of the water crises faced by people in district Sanghar.

Around four dozens water supply schemes launched during the tenure of Prime Minister Muhammad Khan Junejo have been lying non-functional since their inception in 1986.

"Since my childhood, I have seen this water supply scheme which was supposed to provide water but it has dried out," said Azmat Shah, a local landlord and resident of Chak No 2. "Stray dogs and donkeys have now made permanent abode here."





The employees recruited for the schemes continue to receive their salaries without ever coming to work. Since the schemes are laying idle, thieves have stolen motors, electric poles, wires and transformers, inform locals.

"I was 19-years-old when I got this job in 1986," said Qais Khan, who is the machine operator of the water scheme at Gujri Town. He remarked that he has yet to run the motor to supply water to the village. The 49-year-old comes to work every day to kill time.

"I can't turn on the motor because some unidentified people have stolen the electric motor and taken away the transformer. I informed the authorities but nothing came of it," he lamented. "I have heard that a few other employees are also posted here but, I have never even seen them."



The schemes fall within the domain of public health engineering department of Sindh government. An official of the department, requesting anonymity, remarked that Sanghar is not unique as a similar situation prevails across Sindh.

"There are no proper funds for maintenance of these schemes. Instead of launching new schemes, the government should restore the old ones," he added.

The department will prepare a feasibility report to restore all the non-functional water supply schemes across Sindh, said public health engineering minister Fayaz Butt while speaking to The Express Tribune.



"I will personally visit Sanghar in order to review the situation," he said, adding that the area has always been under the control of PML-F representatives who have paid no heed to this problem.

Purpose of the schemes

The schemes were launched by the then government because underground water of the entire area was diminishing. The water schemes were supposed to supply sweet water of Nara Canal (which passes through the area). However, successive governments took no initiative to make them operational.



Each water supply scheme was to provide water to one or two villages. "There are around 80 chaks in our district. After every ten kilometres you will find a water supply scheme that was launched with a lot of investment, but not a single one is functional," pointed out Shah.

Polluted waters

The condition of the local reservoir is no better as contaminated water is supplied to the residents without proper treatment.

"Once a dog carcass was found in this reservoir; we informed the municipal officials who took the corpse out and continued the water supply," said Sindhi writer Ustad Nizamani, a resident. "No one cares and this water is being supplied without treatment."

The government is supplying people with poison rather than water, said lawmaker Kumar. Even the water tanks are in a pathetic condition. "They have not been cleaned for the last several years," he said, adding that water and sewerage lines have been mixed up and residents are consuming contaminated water.

He added that he took up the issue in the Sindh Assembly, but no one cares about it. "Public health engineering department and the provincial government have looted the entire funds of the district," he claimed.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2016.