Ground Report

Golen water supply project doomed to failure By: Gul Hamaad Farooqi CHITRAL, During the ANP-led government in KPK, an amount of 360 million was provided for resolving the potable drinking water crisis in Chitral on the demand of the local people. After receiving the funds, work on the Golen water supply scheme was started but even after the passage of many years and the change of government, the people of Chitral town and adjoining areas still remain without the basic facility. Munir Ahmed, the manager of the water and sanitation unit in Chitral, told ChitralToday that after the completion of the project a valve would be installed at Chew Bridge to block the Angarghone (Shasha) water to Chitral bazaar to divert it to Seenlasht, Singur, Shali, Shah Miran Deh, and Balach etc. On the other hand, the water from Golen would be provided to Chitral bazaar, Denin, Xang bazaar and Bakrabad. The rosy picture by the official aside, local people say that the Golen water project has fallen victim to mismanagement and corruption and the tank at Denin is still being filled by water from Angarghone. The residents added that the provincial government which came into power on the slogan of justice had done nothing to resolve the basic issue but increased the monthly water bill from Rs.100 to Rs.150. A spokesman for the contractor of the Golen water project said that the water pipes were passing through a very dangerous topography and there was no measures for their maintenance and security. MPA Saleem Khan, who inaugurated the project in July this year, said that all works done by the water supply division were of poor quality. He said the pipelines of the Golen water project passed though flood channels that can anytime be washed away. Abdul Wali Khan Advocate said that the pipes used in the project were of very low quality and they were deliberately laid in flood channel at Golen. There was no official available in the public health engineering department. It was learnt that the post of chief engineer in the department remained vacant for many months.