MIANWALI: Residents of the Khattak belt area in the Isakhel tehsil are suffering due to the unavailability of drinking water and have demanded the authorities to complete the Chapri Dam project.

The area, consisting of eight union councils that include Vinjari, Chapri, Sultan Khel, Kaluan Wala, Pacca Kamar Mushani, Tani Khel, Kot Chamdna and Chughlan, has 87 villages with a population of 143,752 residents as per the 2017 census.

Clean drinking water has been a long-standing demand of the locals. Some water schemes were started for the area but most ofthem were now non-functional due to non-payment of electricity bills or other technical problems.

The residents are forced to travel a long distance in the mountains in scorching heat to get water from rainwater ponds.

Residents share these ponds withanimals and face many health issues due to consuming contaminated water.

The Chapri Dam project was launched in 2020 with an estimated cost of Rs5 billion to provide drinking water to these villages and was to be completedwithin two years. However, the project could not be completed despite the passage of five years.

Amal Khan, a resident of Chapri, said the dam was the dream project for the people of the Khattak belt. Funds were not being issued to complete the project, he complained.

The residents of the area urge the Punjab government as well as the high-ups of the armed forces to take notice of the situation.

They demand to provide funds for the completion of the dam and provide drinking water to the families of retired, martyred and serving armed forces personnel.

When contacted, Mianwali Public Health Engineering EXEN Shoaib Hashmi told Dawn that the project was scheduled to be completed in June 2023.

He said that due to the lack of funds, the project was delayed.

He said that Rs603.222 million had been requested to complete the project.