KARAK: Residents of various localities on Wednesday staged a protest demonstration against health department`s failure to cope with the situation arising out of the spread of Lieshmeniasis, a skin disease caused by sand fly.

People from Kurd Sharif, Showanki Deta Mine, Kohi-iMaidan, Kandokhel and other adjacent localities blocked the Kurd-Mianwall road to record their protest.

Ikhtiar Rehman Khattak, former Palosa union council nazim, led the protest.

The elders said that over 117 patients, including women and children, had to go to Mianwali district of Punjab for seeking treatment as there was no health facility in their localities.

They said that 165 cases had been reported in the current month compared to 79 recorded in February.

Former nazim, Rehman Khattak, said that as people were unaware about the disease, many cases had become chronic.

The elders demanded of the local health department to send special teams of doctors and medicines to the affected areas to provide proper treatment to patients at their doorsteps.

They demanded of the elected representatives of Karak to ensure provision of injections and other medicines, as the poor people couldn`t afford costly treatment.

Meanwhile, the disease has also affected hundreds of people in various localities of Banda Daud Shah tehsil, including Bahaderkhel, Nashpa, Nari Panos, Shnawa Totaki and Mardan Khel.

According to sources in the health department, a total of 787 patients have been affected in the district.

MISTAKES IN QUESTION PAPER: Serious mistakes were detected in the Urdu paper of the 9th class during the ongoing SSC examinations being held under the Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education, Kohat.

The students and parents complained that examination staff at different centres tried to contact the relevant officials in the board for rectification of the mistakes, but to no avail, as a result students were unable to attempt the paper to their satisfaction.

MEETING: The first meeting of the three-party alliance of the opposition parties in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly was held here on Wednesday, where the aspiring candidates for the upcoming local government elections were asked to submit their applications with their respective parties` leadership.

The meeting was chaired by former provincial minister Nawabzada Mohsin Ali Khan.

It was agreed that all the decisions would be taken with mutual consultation to take the alliance forward.

The participants also agreed that instead of following the policy devised by the provincial leadership of the alliance, steps suitable to the local environment would be taken at district level.