MULTAN City News

Demo against dysfunctional filtration plants in Multan

From Our Correspondent

MULTAN: More than 200 people took out a rally and staged a sit-in against dysfunctional water filtration plants in front of the DCO Office here on Monday.

A welfare organisation organised the rally from Chowk Shaheedan up to Kutchery Chowk. The protesters were chanting slogans against the district administration for its alleged failure to make water filtration plants functional in the district. They were also carrying placards and banners inscribed with slogans against spread of waterborne diseases.

The protesters said that the district was facing a serious threat due to high-level arsenic in the drinking water, which was causing cancer, stillbirths, post-neonatal mortality and other diseases. They said that the people could absorb significant quantity of arsenic without any immediate health complications.

Addressing the protester, welfare organisation president Abdul Majid alleged that the district administration had closed down 150 water purification plants in the city due to lack of salary budget for workers responsible for running the plants. He said that the people were suffering from chest, stomach and other diseases. He claimed that a complaint regarding dysfunctional filtration plants was submitted to the DCO about two months ago. He further claimed that the DCO forwarded it to the Wasa managing director, who refused to entertain it, saying that the matter did not fall in his jurisdiction. Later, another complaint was submitted to the DCO and he promised provision of water purification plants before Ramazan but he did not honour his commitments, Abdul Majid added. He said that they were planning to observe a sit-in for 30 days in front of the DCO Office.

When contacted, District Coordination Officer Nadir Chattha said that all water purification plants in the district were fully functional. He said that the anti-government political parties were behind the protest drama. He said that the water purification plants would be handed over to philanthropists in the next couple of days.

DCO Nadir Chattha said that funds had been allocated in the budget for installation of water purification plants in all schools and work on it would begin soon.