Pakistan Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (PCSIR) have said water is often contaminated and getting scarce in KPK.
The government should look for alternative sources and there was need for awareness among the population as well.
KPK government in last July released a report about availability of water in government-run health facilities, which found that 50 per cent of the 1500 health outlets did not have water.
According to PCSIR, water supply in 25 per cent of facilities was contaminated, Dr Akbar said, who spearheaded the campaign to know about water availability in health facilities of the 26 districts.
The KPK Public Health Engineering Department admits that people are experiencing water scarcity and contaminated water is found in hospitals, schools, colleges, offices and houses as water management is becoming a major crisis.
The government has started chlorination of all the tube-wells in the KPK and FATA.
Nearly half of the beds in hospitals are occupied by patients suffering from gastroenteritis, diarrhoea and other diseases caused by the consumption of untreated water.
The situation in slums is even worse as people living there often have to fetch water from distant places. People are asked to boil water before use, but most of the population is poor and illiterate.
PCSIR’S official, Jahangir Shah, feared a further scarcity of water in view of rapid depletion of resources. “In next 10 year, we can the face shortage, if the situation remains unchanged. There is an urgent need to search for alternative water resources, the government should adopt best water management practices and awareness among the population should be raised,” he said.
