Parched residents pelt UC chairman’s office in Rawalpindi

UC chairman submits an application to police but later withdraws it

RAWALPINDI: Angry residents, who have not had water supplied to their homes, allegedly attacked the office of a Union Council (UC) chairman in Fauji Colony on Sunday. The attackers allegedly ransacked the UC office and tortured the chairman’s son and others who were present there. In response to the attack, the UC chairman initially sent a request to the police to register a case against the protestors, but he later then withdrew the complaint.



With the water crisis worsening in the city, most of the UC chairmen have stopped going to their offices for fear of running into angry residents and for any altercation to escalate. According to details, a large crowd, angry at not being provided water, attacked the office of the UC-8 Chairman Raja Maqsood.

They pelted the office with stones before breaking into it and looting it.

The protestors included men, women and children.

They tortured those present in the office, including Maqsood’s son.

Following the incident, Maqsood sent a request to the Pir Wadhai police station to file a case.



However, after the intervention of the UC Vice Chairman Ziaullah Shah, the request was withdrawn.

On being contacted, Maqsood denied that his son had been tortured in any way by the public. Instead, he said that citizens had protested over the acute shortage of water, which was justified.

He disclosed that three tube-wells in their area have stopped working. He added that they were so deep that they could not see the bottom even with a camera.

He added that given the present circumstances, the protest of the residents was understandable.

Furthermore, Maqsood stated that the Rawalpindi Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) had been called for assistance and that he was trying his best to solve the problem.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 21^st, 2018.