Accident PHA employee drowns in canal

FAISALABAD:  

An employee of Parks and Horticulture Authority (PHA) drowned in the canal in Abdullahpur on Saturday.

A Rescue 1122 spokesman said 35-year-old Anwar, a gardener, was watering the plants near the canal when he slipped and fell.

On being informed, a Rescue 1122 team reached the scene.

They could not find the body despite searching for three hours.

Later, several relatives of the deceased gathered at Summundri Road and staged a protest demonstration against the PHA.

They blocked the road by burning tyres and chanted slogans.

Talking to newsmen, Akhtari Bibi, one of the protesters, said that the PHA was responsible for the drowning.

“The PHA has not provided any protective gear to gardeners watering green belts near the canal,” she said.

“Three hours passed after the incident but no one could find the body. We have been protesting for more than two hours but no PHA official bothered to come meet us and offer condolences for the death of their worker,” she said.

Later, a team from D-Type Colony police station reached the scene and met the protesters and assured them that the body would be fished out.

The protesters then dispersed on receiving this assurance.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 15^th, 2016.