Yearning for a drop: Shahdadkot left at mercy of contaminated water

False promises, non-functional RO schemes, officials’ personal gains deny citizens basic right

QAMBAR SHAHDADKOT:

After grappling with a severe potable water shortage for years without reprieve, the Shahdadkot residentiary has turned its woes to the region’s ruling party, now demanding to be heard.

Hundreds of people from the town, which has been a constituency of former prime minister and PPP leader Shaheed Benazir Bhutto, are expected to record their protest through a sit-in staged straight shot from the Bhutto family mausoleum in Gharhi Khuda Bux.

According to a source privy to the Pakistan Peoples Party’s inner circle, the party is considering fielding Bilawal Bhutto Zardari from Shahdadkot NA 207 in the upcoming general elections. In this scenario, most locals demand that they would only vote for Bilawal if he resolves their drinking water issue.

Unfulfilled schemes and little regard for the needs of citizens of the district have meant that technological advances and development works have evaded Shahdadkot.

Brackish water

Owing to the absence of drinking water, the 300,000 people who populate this desolate settlement still traverse several kilometres to the town’s outskirts every day to fetch buckets of water from tube wells and hand pumps installed in nearby fields.

The water however, is not fit for human consumption and reportedly saturated with arsenic.

“The minority that can afford buying mineral water relies on it for daily use, but over 90 per cent of Shahdadkot has no option but to consume the arsenic contaminated water,” said Dr Sattar Wadho, a senior doctor at the local civil hospital.

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The town’s residents believe there is no dearth of public funds required to mitigate the water crisis, as the government allocates millions every year for four of the area’s water supply schemes and municipal services.

“It’s just our ill-fate that we are left at the mercy of incompetency and mismanagement of officers who bungle the budget,” commented one disgruntled resident.

According to Fida Bhatti, a local journalist, Tanvri Canal, which irrigates the region’s agricultural fields, is responsible for contamination of nearly all water supply schemes in the town.

“The city’s industrial and agricultural waste is regularly dumped in the canal, which leaves the water smelling foul. People do avoid consuming rotten water, but still [resort to] using it for washing and other purposes. However, the water which is provided by municipal officers is also too brackish for human consumption, so that’s not any better either.”

Elaborating further, the journalist said that the area’s municipal officers have dug up a number of tube-wells to siphon the contaminated groundwater that is released sans purification.

“But even that is rarely available to the people owing to the broken pipelines and lack of water supply mechanism,” he added.

People of Shahdadkot neighbourhoods including Gharibabad, Kale Maqan and Single Section Muhalla complain of not receiving a single drop of water through their taps in the past 10 years.

“Every day, we get a drum from a donkey cart vendor that costs us Rs100. The water in it is then used for drinking and cooking,” said Khalid Brohi, a resident of Garibabad.

“We have a hand pump inside the house, but water is saline, so we mix it with donkey cart water for bathing. Water is a luxury and we seldom have enough to bathe in.

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The men can still go for a dip in open water bodies when the sun swelters, but there is no such option for women and children,” he remarked.

False schemes

The government had set up three River Osmosis (RO) plants to purify the water being supplied to Shahdadkot, but almost all such plants have remained non-functional.

“Three RO plants are closed. One occasionally works. Kidney diseases and hepatitis are prevalent. “This all is being done because of water contamination,” lamented Murad Pandrani, a local social activist.

He added that political activists and residents have staged many sit-ins on the issue but nothing changed. Another political activist, Hayat Tunio, who is affiliated with Sindh Taraqi Pasand Party recalled to PPP founder and former prime minister, Benazir’s promises to make Shahdadkot an ideal city.

“When Benazir became prime minister, she announced a mega water supply scheme in 1989, but it could not be materialised. Despite a municipal staff of over 200 people including sweepers, all appointed on political grounds, the town still suffers from a severe solid waste [crisis]. [Waste] is piled up in every nook and cranny.”

Shahdadkot’s water supply schemes come under the public health engineering department. However, it appears that officials of the department have been using the water bodies of the supply scheme to grow lotus plants, locally called as Bhay.

The roots of lotus are used widely in Sindhi cuisine. Municipal officials, after growing the crop in ponds, reportedly sell the lotus roots in the market.

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“It looks like water supply schemes are meant for the earning purpose of officials who grow vegetables in it rather than paying attention on supplying water to citizens,” sniggered Bhatti.

Musawar Kalhro, a senior official of the public health department, refuted reports of growing the vegetables in the water supply pond.

“We provide water to all the citizens as per our available resources,” he said, adding that RO plants were meant to purify the water, but are laying non- functional due to technical faults.

“There are different supply schedules for different muhallas. One RO plant works round the clock. But for the rest, we have informed high officials and hope the issue will be resolved soon,” he said.

On the other hand, PPP MPA Mir Nadir Magsi, criticised his own government for neglecting the city. “I have raised the issue many times with higher authorities in our government, but no one listens,” he said, speaking to local media.

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