Demo against poor sanitation

LAHORE: Scores of residents of Chungi Amar Sidhu and adjoining neighbourhoods staged a protest demonstration on Sunday to press the Lahore Development Authority and its subsidiary bodies to take notice of water standing in the area.

Angry protesters gathered at Chandrai Road and blocked it for traffic. They set alight tyres and wooden crates. They chanted slogans against the government, saying it had failed to respond to scores of calls for attention to the crisis in their neighbourhood.

“There is rainwater in our homes and on the streets since Eid… we called the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to drain it but no one came,” said Khadija Bibi, a resident of Ghulam Bhatti Colony.

Khadija said there was a foul smell in the area and that children were falling ill. “Last night, there was another downpour. Several streets in the area are flooded,” she said. Ghulam Murtaza, a resident of Data Town, said the problem extended to several neighbourhoods. “We tried to reach MPA Ramazan Siddiq who was elected from the area but he, too, was unavailable,” he said. Traffic was held up on Chandrai Road for at least 45 minutes. The protesters dispersed after a police team met them and assured them that water in the area would be drained soon.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, WASA spokesman Imtiaz Mujtaba Ghauri said the authority was aware of the problem and making a comprehensive plan to fix it permanently. He said there were various new housing colonies along Ferozepur Road that faced similar issues. The WASA had a plan to initiate a big development scheme in the current fiscal year for the whole area, he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 25^th, 2016.