Water scarcity: Abbottabad residents threaten protest

A village councilor says a water pump attached to a tube well has been out of order for over a month

ABBOTTABAD: Residents of two Abbottabad villages have threatened to protest unless the authorities do not repair a water pump in the area over the next few days.

Taj Khan, a village councilor from Banda Jalal Khan, said that a water pump attached to a tube well had been out of order for over a month.

Accompanied by over a dozen villagers from Banda Jalal Khan and Lamba Maira villages he said that hundreds of residents of these villages had forced to send the elderly and women to fetch water from far off areas or purchase from private suppliers. This despite the fact that paying their bills on time.

The councilor said that he had led a delegation to meet with the sub-divisional officer at the Public Health Authorities to discuss the issue. However, he lamented the officer’s response was discouraging. Taj claimed that the SDO told them how the department was short of funds and could not repair the pump and advised them to contact DC, District Nazim or the MPA. The councilor warned that unless the pump was repaired within the next two days, the villagers would stage a protest.

Meanwhile, when approached for comments the SDO was not available but an official at his office said that they were making arrangements to ensure that the water supply to the localities was restored within a few days.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 22^nd, 2017.