Shafiuddin Shafqi
KARAK: Fresh protest movement for the realization of the basic amenities was launched by Khattak Ittehad, a local rights organization and blocked the Karak-Bannu road at Saddam Chowk here on Saturday.
Earlier a protest meeting was held at Town Hall Karak with the district President of KI Maulana Mirzaqeem in the chair and all the office bearers and workers of the right organization attended the meeting in large number. The speakers including Maulana Mirzaqeem, Professor (Rtd) Isam Jan, Captain (Rtd) Ahmad Jan, Abdur Rahim Aasi and others on the occasion complained of ruthless load shedding, low gas pressure and shortage of potable water in many localities of the district. They strongly condemned the authorities of Sui Northern Gas Pipeline Limited (SNGPL) for not installing domestic gas connections to the consumers and also not increasing the gas pressure in the district. They informed that they were preparing the meals on firewood due to low gas pressure and the people particularly the women folk of the district were facing a lot of problems.
The speakers also came hard on PESCO Karak for observing more than 20 hours unscheduled load shedding across the district and added that the excessive load shedding and load management has created the problem of the drinking water as the drinking water supply schemes could not run.
The elders of the right organization also complained about the shortage of drinking water in many localities in the district and alleged that the elected representatives have no planning for the resolving this chronic issue. They said that there were no steps in the offing in the foreseeable future to resolve this serious issue and added that the soft water of the district was turning brackish very rapidly which would force the residents of the district to migrate if the issue not resolved.
The speakers claimed that the people of the district were very gentle but could not compromise on their basic rights and astonished that the district was producing half budget of the province but it was the most neglected district in the priority list of the government. Later the protestors marched to Saddam Chowk and blocked it for an hour for all kinds of traffic.
The speakers on the occasion said that they were going launch public awareness movement and after that they would launch a series of protest in the district headquarters. They said that they would utilize all available options for the resolution of their demand and would continue their protest till its logical end. Later they dispersed peacefully.