Villagers seek nazim's help to launch water supply project

Haji Maghfirat Shah[/caption] DIZG: The people of Dizg have appealed to District Nazim Haji Maghfirat Shah to help them utilize the water of a nearby stream for drinking purposes. The stream flows across a vast desert, called Khotanlasht, near the Dizg village in the Yarkhun valley. The water has never grown even a moss on the otherwise fertile land, rather it destroys all plants, crops, etc., that come on its way. It is believed that the stream gets mixed with sulphuric acid somewhere before it flows into the desert from the Khotan mountain. On the higher side of the mountain, where the people of Dizg have their pastures, the water is crystal clear. The people of Dizg want to directly siphon the water from near the top of the mountain to their village to save it from being mixed with the sulphuric acid on its natural route so that it can be used for drinking. Talking to ChitralToday, the elders and community leaders of the village, including Zulfiqar Ali Khan, Dilbar Murad, Didarul Mulk, Nadir Wali Khan and Shazda Aziz, expressed the hope that with the cooperation of the district government headed by Haji Maghfirat Shah and non-governmental organizations such as the SRSP and AKRSP their longstanding issue of water scarcity would be resolved on a permanent basis. They said they were also ready to provide drinking water to scores of people from Brep who were settled in the south of the desert after their houses and land were washed away in floods in the year 2007. A bout six years ago, the SRSP had expressed its willingness to provide funds for the water supply project. It had also carried out a survey which showed that the water would have to be siphoned down the mountain from a distance of 15,000 feet. The SRSP could not launch the project due to a shortage of funds. It may be noted that in the water-scarcity area the water of Khotan Gol has been used only to run the primitive watermills of the village which have now also been abandoned after the availability of grinding machines. Various laboratory tests have confirmed the presence of sulphuric acid in the water. People never use the water for drinking and irrigation purposes despite perpetual water shortage in the area. The villagers tell various folklore stories about the uselessness of the water, some saying the stream was condemned for ever by a saint after one of his colleagues drowned in the turbid water.]]>