High and dry: Villagers suffering acute water shortage

Locals threaten to protest if tube well not fixed soon

HARIPUR: Residents of Marimal village have been facing an acute shortage of water for the past two weeks after a pumping machine of a tube well went out of order.

Speaking to the media, Raja Aurangzeb, Raja Naeem and others said residents of the village of over 3,000 people, said that they were suffering from water shortages for the last fortnight. They accused the authorities of turning a deaf ear to their pleas and a blind eye to the broken machinery.

The Marimal had two tube wells. However, residents said that one of the tube wells had been out of order for the past five years. They claimed that after the authorities refused to allow the son of the man, who had donated land for the tube well, was not made the operator. Hence, the man had stopped authorities from repairing the tube well.

During this time, a power transformer for the well was also stolen.

Now, the second and only operating well feeding the village, has stopped working after it broke down. Despite the passage of 15 days, officials have failed to repair it.

With no tube well, the locals have been forced to fetch water from distant areas. Residents said that despite the fact some political big shots and influentials hailed from the village, it was suffering from a water crisis.

They threatened to stage a protest unless the faulty machinery was repaired or replaced.

When approached, a Public Health Engineering Department official confirmed that the tube well was out of order. He added that authorities would replace the faulty machine in the next couple of days to resolve the matter.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 18^th, 2016.