Shogram residents forced to drink muddy water

ZAIT (CHITRAL), Nov 9: After over three months of the devastating flood in Reshun Gol, the residents of Shogram are still deprived of drinking clean water, a visit to the village by this correspondent showed. They used to get the drinking water through pipelines from the Reshun Gol which were damaged by the flood on August 1. Since then, children and women have been fetching water from the River Yarkhun and also washed clothes sitting on the bank of the river. Saeed Ahmad, one of the residents, told ChitralToday that it was unfortunate that the Public Health Department had not bothered to come to the rescue of the affected people of the village. He also said that the water supply lines had not been laid inside Reshun village after the flood washed them away. The local residents were forced to drink muddy water of the Gohkir Gol. A few residents were seen cleaning the filtration portion of the water tank which is still filled by mud to store some water in it in the winter when ChitralToday visited the site. A resident, Abdul Ghafoor, said it was very difficult for them to clean the entire filtration portion in such a harsh weather and water was also very cold. Another resident, Mr. Qayyum, said they had not seen a single staff member from the Public Health Department in Shogram after that massive flood. He also alleged there was one permanent employ of the department who belonged to Reshun and was responsible for looking after the public property as well as the pipelines system. However, this employee of the department couldn’t be seen, he added. But they were happy and hopeful that now WASEP and other NGOs were willing to provide extra pipes to the village to restore the water supply which were destroyed inside Reshun Gol. Another resident, Mr. Waqas told chitraltoday.net that the Public Health Department had failed to fulfill its duties and other organizations were coming to the rescue of the affected people.]]>