NAROWAL: A number of people are forced to drink dirty water due to malfunction of 27 filtration plants installed in Shakargarh tehsil.

Thirty-five water filtration plants were installed in 2005 with the grant of the MPAs to provide clean drinking water to the people in the towns and villages ofShakargarhtehsil.

After the Punjab government installed water filtration plants, their repair, maintenance, electricity bill and other responsibilities were handed over to a committee comprising local people.

At the village where water fil-tration plants were installed, people from the surrounding villages also used to take clean water to their homes on a daily basis.

These plants went out of order one after another and the committee did not ensure repair and maintenance of filtration plants.

As many as 27 of the 35 water filtration plants have been shut down in Shakargarh where people have been forced to drink contaminated water due to unavailability of clean drinking water.

Muhammad Azeem and Abdul Ghaffar said the closure of water filtration plants and consumption of contaminated water was leading to hepatitis Band skin diseases in the populace. He said neither the committee nor the district administration and the Punjab government pay attention to the repair and maintenance of water filtration plants.

Mohammad Ibrahim, Ali Khan and others said businessmen and landlords had installed deep wells and filters in their homes but the working class people were forced to drink dirty water due to government`s inattention.

Muhammad Afzal, OfficerServices Municipal Committee, Shakargarh, said the committee had installed only five water filtration plants in the city. Proper maintenance of water filtration plants and replacement of filters is needed.

He said the plants installed at Noorani Road, Iqbalpura and Borwala Chowk in the city were not the responsibility of the Municipal Committee which could carry out repair of its own water filtration plants.

Association of Human Rights` Narowal Vice President MianMuhammad Rafique said clean drinking water was the basic right of every citizen of Pakistan.

He said the Punjab government should take immediate notice of this and provide clean drinking water to the people as soon as possible.

Deputy Commissioner Nabila Irfan said clean drinking water was a basic right of every citizen of Pakistan. He said an estimate report had been sought from the department for repairs and maintenance of water filtration plants.