'Pani Do, Vote Lo' campaign gains momentum

Locals demand a swift resolution of the water crisis in return for votes from candidates in arid areas of K-P

PESHAWAR:

Every five years, parties and politicians religiously tour districts across the country, making insincere promises and chanting platitudinous slogans only to retreat into a state of outright oblivion just days after the wrap up of the elections. Given this observable trend, locals in the underdeveloped areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P), dealing with unending water shortages, have come up with an ingenious tactic to put to shame campaigning parties by organising a parallel campaign of their own: give water, take vote.

Landi Kotal, Lucki Marwat, Karak and other arid areas of the Khyber district in K-P have been plagued by a severe water crisis since forever, forcing locals including women to fetch water on foot from far-flung areas miles away, for meeting their sustenance and hygiene requirements. However, the endemic developmental issue has rarely been addressed by the elected leadership, who fail to fulfil their pre-election pledges.

“We were always requesting the incumbent officers to take note of the water crisis plaguing our hometowns but they refused to bat an eye. Hence, we came up with the “Pani Do, Vote Lo” campaign, which has now started gaining momentum and has become popular among the locals,” shared Akhtar Ali Shinwari, the founder of the Pani Do, Vote Lo campaign, while speaking to the Express Tribune.

Seconding Shinwari, Ikram Ullah Khan, a social worker hailing from the Lucki Marwat district, revealed that his area received very little rainfall on an annual basis, as a result of which water reserves were unusually scarce and most people had to carry water tanks from distant locations back home on a regular basis.

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“In our area, every contesting political figure makes tall claims of resolving the issues of the people and improving their quality of life. The reality however, is that we are still deprived of the most basic resources for survival, like water,” lamented Khan, who further added that apart from water, the supply of gas and electricity, alongside the provision of education and health, was also deemed a luxury.

According to Dr Muhammad Nafees, Chairman of the Department of Environment at the University of Peshawar, considering the disparity in the parties’ claims and actions, the “Pani Do, Vote Lo” campaign was a great initiative undertaken by the people, who were now blatantly demanding an urgent solution to their resource scarcity issues.

“Pakistan is facing a serious climate challenge at the moment because of which water scarcity has become the most pertinent issue. In case the matter is not dealt with urgently, 2030 and beyond could bring an unprecedented environmental crisis for our country,” urged Dr Nafees, who beseeched elected legislators to think through innovative solutions to the problem including the construction of the grey water system and rain dams.

Speaking of elected legislators, it is worth mentioning here that for the upcoming elections a total of 39 candidates will be contesting from Lucky Marwat NA-41including Maulana Asajad from JUI-F, Inamullah Khan as independent, Salim Saifullah Khan as independent, Sher Afzal Marwat from PTI, Ghulam Akbar Marwat as independent, and Mansor Kamal Marwat from PML-N.