Not a drop to drink: No water brings Mirpur residents on roads
Tube-wells will be repaired within two weeks: official.
MIRPUR:
Agitated over water shortages, people took to the streets and stormed a tube-well here on Sunday.
The situation emerged after the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) cut down supply of water in various residential sectors due to faults in man tube-wells.
The residents raised slogans against the PHED and the district administration for failing to control the crisis.
Ex-Councillor Shoaib Mir, who led the demonstration, said that despite the orders of the AJK government, the local PHED has failed to ensure sufficient supply of water in the residential sectors.
Another consumer Abdul Qayyum Ansari complained that the PHED officials were adopting delaying tactics instead of addressing the problem. He suggested that the PHED-run tube-wells should be handed over to the consumers in each residential sector if the department is unable to run them smoothly.
The AJK PM also took notice of the situation.
Mirpur Deputy Commissioner Masoodur Rehman said the government has decided to release Rs16 million to the PHED, which will help them make all tube-wells operational within two weeks. “We will ensure the supply of water to the consumers in the summers,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.
Agitated over water shortages, people took to the streets and stormed a tube-well here on Sunday.
The situation emerged after the Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) cut down supply of water in various residential sectors due to faults in man tube-wells.
The residents raised slogans against the PHED and the district administration for failing to control the crisis.
Ex-Councillor Shoaib Mir, who led the demonstration, said that despite the orders of the AJK government, the local PHED has failed to ensure sufficient supply of water in the residential sectors.
Another consumer Abdul Qayyum Ansari complained that the PHED officials were adopting delaying tactics instead of addressing the problem. He suggested that the PHED-run tube-wells should be handed over to the consumers in each residential sector if the department is unable to run them smoothly.
The AJK PM also took notice of the situation.
Mirpur Deputy Commissioner Masoodur Rehman said the government has decided to release Rs16 million to the PHED, which will help them make all tube-wells operational within two weeks. “We will ensure the supply of water to the consumers in the summers,” he added.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 12th, 2012.