Water reaches barren land of Orghoch

CHITRAL, June 29: Hundreds of acres of barren land in the Orghoch village got water for the first time through a pipeline laid from the Chitral Gol. 

This was stated to be the first development scheme in the area since the creation of Pakistan. The water supply to the barren land was made possible by an NGO at a cost of Rs2.3 million. Earlier, water had reached the village but because of shortage of pipes it could not be taken to the barren land.

The NGO said it donated about 4,200-foot-long HDP pipe of six inches diameter to supply water to the barren land. In this regard, a function was held in the Orghuch village under the chair of Qazi Muhammad Naeem Shah while Maulana Muhammad Ilyas was chief guest on the occasion.

Prominent social worker Muhammad Wali Shah highlighted different issues of the area, including unavailability of irrigation as well as drinking water. He said in the past Orghoch was thick forest area but now it presents a deserted look due to lack of water. “Time and again we requested the state-run organizations for providing us a pipeline to supply water to our land or build a water channel to irrigate hundreds of acres barren land but all in vain.”

 Speaking on the occasion, Tariq Ahmad, the district programme manager of the NGO, said they always launched developmental schemes in most remote areas which were neglected in the past. Maulana Ilyas and other residents demanded provision of potable drinking water in the village because the women of the area were still fetched contaminated water of the river in pitches on their heads for drinking purposes.

It may be noted that in the past the people of Orghoch had warned the government that if they were not provided with irrigation and drinking water they would migrate from the area.–Gul Hamaad Farooqi