Scarcity: Mirpur, Muzaffarabad areas without water

The residents of Gojra complained that the PHE was not paying attention to their miseries

MUZAFFARABAD:

Residents of Muzaffarabad and Mirpur have been facing water scarcity for the last three days and the Public Health Engineering Department (PHED) has failed to find a solution for the issue.

Residents of Showkat Line, Gojra, Chatter, Tariqabad and Upper Adda in Muzaffarabad complained about a severe shortage of drinking water, saying that due to the water crisis, they had to walk for miles to fetch water from springs.

They said that the taps had run dry for the past three days but the PHC has failed to restore water supply to many areas. They said that they would stage protests against the PHE if the supply was not restored.

The residents of Gojra also complained that the PHE was not paying attention to their miseries, while water tankers of the same department were supplying water to government officials and their bureaucrats.

According to reports, the residents of Sector C/3 and Sector C/4 in Mirpur were also facing acute water shortages.

They alleged that the PHED was creating an artificial water crisis to allow the water tanker mafia to loot the common man. PHED officials stationed in Muzaffarabad did not respond for comment despite repeated phone calls.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2014.