Officials of a private firm, in connivance with the high-ups of Public Health Engineering Department (PHED), have allegedly misappropriated Rs3 billion which were released by the Sindh government for putting the faulty RO plants in order in the desert district.
Credible sources revealed to MinuteMirror that another private firm which was given the contract of putting around 630 faulty RO plants into operation to provide safe drinking water to the residents of the desert district did not spend the required funds on correcting the plants, and instead embezzled the funds in connivance with the local officials, leaving Tharis to drink contaminated water from the wells.
The officials of the private firm, Oslo, were given the contract after the previous firm, despite spending over Rs13 billion, could provide drinking water by installing 750 plants across Tharparkar district. But the officials of the new firm turned out to be more greedy and never made any effort to repair the faulty plants, including the big ones in towns like Mithi, Islamkot, Chhachhro, Nagarparkar and Diplo.
The insiders, who requested not be named, revealed that Rs3 billion released to the firm some months back were mercilessly squandered and a faulty plant was put into operation by carrying out maintenance work. “Thar has become the graveyard of the faulty RO plants and people have to travel miles to fetch water for them and their cattle in terrible hot and hostile sizzling summers,” the sources added. Despite repeated attempts, no official could be contacted for official version on the current worst crisis in the rain-dependent arid zone of the country.
Meanwhile, farmers, growers as well as members of different political parties and members of the civil society came on the roads to register their protest against the unavailability of water in different towns of Hyderabad and Mirpurkhas divisions on Thursday. The protesters, after marching or different roads and staged the demonstrations outside the press clubs for several hours despite the terrible hot weather.
The leaders of the protesters talking to the media expressed their anger and indignation against the unavailability of water in their respective canals and waterways for past many days. They said that despite the improvement in water flows at Guddu barrage their canals were still deprived of water even for the drinking water. They warned to widen the scope of their protest if required water was not released in their canals and irrigation minors within next few days.
