Mori Lasht worst affected by drought
CHITRAL: The residents of Mori Lasht on Friday decried government’s apathy towards the resolution of their miseries following the unusual drought that destroyed their crops and fruit trees and all types of greenery leaving them with no sources of livelihood.
“If the authorities concerned consider the dwellers of over 150 houses in this village as worthless lots they should be allowed to cross the border into Afghanistan,” former member district council Haji Ghafar Khan, Qazi Asghar, Attaullah Khan, councilor Ikramullah, Muhibur Rehman, Hidayatur Rehman, Shair Ahmed and others told local reporters.
They said the drought had already destroyed wheat and other crops on 3,000 acres and trees on 650 acres. Due to the drought, the farmers also could not plant any vegetables.The residents of the village also said that the villagers were compelled to take their cattle to other areas and sell them at throwaway prices as there were no fodders to feed them.
Holding the irrigation department responsible for the situation, they said supply of water to the village from Istangol through a canal built in the 1960s was stopped and four workers of the department deputed to ensure the supply of water were now drawing salaries without performing duties.
They said for months the affected people of Mori Lasht had been protesting peacefully and demanding the authorities concerned to resolve the issue but to no avail. If any untoward situation arises due to the official apathy, its responsibility will fall on the irrigation department, they warned.
They regretted that the village was provided water from the Golen water supply project of the irrigation department for a few weeks and then stopped, forcing the residents to fetch water on motorbikes from Mashelik located at a distance of over 12 kilometers.
They demanded that the government should immediately allocate funds to restore the water supply to the village from Istangol. They said there was a need to arrange at a priority basis 4,000 feet of plastic pipe so that it could be used to complete the abandoned water supply project of the village. –Bashir Hussain Azad