PESHAWAR: Leaking pipes and pools of water every here and there in the posh Hayatabad township here has badly exposed the performance of the Peshawar Development Authority (PDA), which never tires of making tall claims of exemplary services.
The authority has no dearth of resources and manpower rather over-employment has been made in the authority by the successive governments. Also, it is collecting hefty amounts of revenue from consumers under different heads. But when it comes to service delivery, it shows the worst picture. The officials of the authority are either arrogant or non-serious about responding to the complaints by the consumers and resolving their problems.
A couple of days back, this correspondent happened to visit the PDA building located in the heart of the Hayatabad township to see water streaming down the main road in front of the building. The main road was presenting the look of a river.
If one passes through different streets and roads of the township; he would see water streaming and pooling every here and there. This not only affects the beauty and cleanliness of the township but also generates hatcheries of mosquitoes leading to risks of diseases, especially the dengue virus to the residents of the township. The waste of water is another bad aspect of the situation.
The water pipes in the township are rusted and leaked, which need immediate repair and replacement but the PDA authorities don’t bother to look into the situation and do the needful.
Owing to the rusted and leaking pipes, the water in the township has been contaminated and the people are forced to use filtered water for drinking purposes and other necessities.
Owing to the water contamination, typhoid had spread in Phase-2 and 3 of the township. “I live in L-3 of Phase-3. The water pipe outside my house is leaking somewhere from which water flows in the street causing a nuisance for the residents. I have lodged a number of complaints with the PDA, but to no avail,” said Mohammad Zubair.
Another resident of the same area told The News that they were concerned about their own street but when he saw the situation outside the PDA building, he was convinced that nothing would happen to improve the situation.
The roads and streets in the L-3 sector of Phase three are also wearing the worst look. The roads are broken everywhere in the sector and no plan to repair them can be seen.
This correspondent tried to reach the sanitation department’s head of the authority by phone to seek his comments, but he didn’t respond to the phone calls. The official also avoided responding to voice messages by this correspondent.
Efforts were also made to talk to the PDA Director-General Ammara Khan. But she too did not bother to respond.
She did not pick up the phone calls. Also, she did not respond to the voice message sent to her on her WhatsApp numbers. Both the officials had read/listened to the WhatsApp messages, but did not respond.