BATKHELA: The residents of the areas along the under-construction Swat Expressway have said that the dust caused by long vehicles and heavy machinery is increasing air pollution, which is harmful for local population as well as nearby orchards of peach.

They demanded of the construction companies to sprinkle water on the road for two to three times daily to save the local people from developing chest infections and other related diseases.

“There are a lot of orchards of peach and orange near Swat Expressway from Palai to Pul Chowki Chakdara and gardening is the only source of income of the local people. The dust is harmful for fruit trees,” said Islam, a gardener.

Local people demand sprinkling of water at the site on daily basis

He said that last year too, peach gardens were affected owing to work on the expressway. The fruit could not reach its standard size and produce was also affected by the dust and pollution, he added.

Adam Khan, a resident of Palai, said that not only the orchards were affected by the dust but most of children in the area were also suffering from chest and throat infections. He said that uniforms of schoolchildren needed to be washed everyday due to dust and pollution.

“We face difficulty in protecting our children and household items from dust as heavy trucks ply on the link roads in the area. We have demanded of Frontier Works Organisation and other companies several times to sprinkle water on daily basis on the roads but to no avail,” said Adam Khan.

The contractors working on the site, when contacted, said that it was the responsibility of FWO to spray water on the roads as all roads were used for its work. “We forwarded the complaints of local people to FWO but it did not take any notice. The FWO official should take notice of public demand,” said a contractor on condition of anonymity”.

An official of FWO, when approached, said that the company sprinkled water on the roads four to five times on daily bases. “However, it is not enough as weather is hot. We receive complaints and request the authorities concerned to increase water spray at construction sites. We also request local people to cooperate with FWO because all the work is being carried out for development of the area,” he added.

The local people threatened that they would stop work forcibly on the expressway the companies did not start sprinkling water on the roads on daily basis. “We have already suffered losses as our lands were taken from us at a low price for the expressway. Now all the link roads and streets in the area are badly damaged by heavy trucks,” they added.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2019