In absence of a sewerage system, WAPDA Town Phase-II has become a breeding hub of dengue and malaria mosquitoes, Pakistan Today learnt on Tuesday. WAPDA Town Phase-II was established in the early 1980s and the land was acquired for the society in 1987. However, even after the lapse of 24 years, the society could not be developed properly and its residents face numerous problems. The WAPDA Town administration has not even laid sewerage system. As a result, water through rain and other sources accumulates in the open plots of the society, providing mosquitoes with the space they need to breed. Residents from the surrounding societies, such as Architect, Aitchison, and WAPDA Town Phase-I, have also complained about the increasing number of mosquitoes owing to the absence of a sewerage system in WAPDA Town Phase-II.
The area residents said they had given applications to WAPDA Housing Society administration for clearing water from empty plots, however the society’s administration turned a deaf ear to their requests. They said they also appealed to the WAPDA chairman for taking action against the society’s administration, as poor cleanliness conditions were causing malaria and dengue to spread in the area.
“I am living in this area for the last three years. The society still needs a sewerage system,” said Khalid Mehmood, a resident of WAPDA Town Phase-II, adding that his children had fallen victim to malaria owing to stagnated water in empty plots. Another resident, Iftikhar Ali, said it surprised him how a society in modern times was established without a sewerage system. He said residents had to hire the services of private cleaners for getting the water dried. He said WAPDA Housing Society took huge fees for development, which was nowhere in sight in the society. “The transfer fee of a plot is more than Rs 200,000 and in return, the services of the society administration are very poor,” he said. He demanded WAPDA chairman to look into the matter before more people fell victim to dengue and malaria.
The residents of the surrounding societies said WAPDA Housing Society had left them vulnerable to mosquitoes by not laying a sewerage system. “We have fumigated our houses many times but to no avail, as mosquitoes are breeding in WAPDA Town Phase-II, where water accumulates in huge quantity,” said Saad Farooq, a resident of a nearby society, demanding that the government should take action against the society’s administration. He said that recent rains caused huge accumulation of water in WAPDA Phase-II and as a result mosquitoes were breeding freely. “The residents of the area are becoming sick only because of huge quantity of mosquitoes but still the administration of WAPDA Town Society has turned a deaf ear to our appeals and a blind eye to people’s illness,” he added.
WAPDA Town Housing Society officials were not available for comments.
