Gilgit-Baltistan: Chief Minister accused of tampering with bill providing clean water to residents

Balawaristan National Front (Naji) founder Nawaz Khan Naji has accused the region's Chief Minister Muhammad Khalid Khurshid Khan belonging to the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) of tampering with the bill that was passed in the Gilgit-Baltistan Assembly for providing clean water in Gilgit city, reported local media.

Earlier, the Pakistani Minister for Planning and Information of Gilgit-Baltistan Fatehullah Khan (PTI) said that the allocation of Pakistani Rupees 100 crore was made for the project with the amount written on the bill. Later the amount was changed to Rs 50 crore.

Naji said that the work of tampering is going on at a very fast pace in Gilgit-Baltistan, a territory under Pakistan's occupation, and this tampering has been done by the chief minister himself, reported the vernacular media.

The deputy speaker, Nazir Ahmed said that the Secretary of Planning will be called and asked about the person who did the tampering and why.

According to the report by the World Health Organization, contaminated water is the cause of 40 per cent of deaths in Pakistani hospitals, reported the vernacular media.

Despite Gilgit-Baltistan being the hub of water, the majority of the people do not have access to clean water.

Besides, the people of Gilgit Baltistan are facing the heat of rising inflation.

They recently hit the streets against the government to demand an immediate check on the exponential rise in inflation.

Joined in by different political parties, the residents called the current dispensation a failure and said it had only brought misery to the people of Gilgit Baltistan.

Locals blamed that a policy paralysis in Islamabad coupled with the unscrupulous intent of Prime Minister Imran Khan's government responsible for the current situation where both the retail and wholesale inflation had touched a historic high.

(ANI)