HARIPUR, April 10: A young boy died of measles in the Hattar area late last week following a recent outbreak of the disease here, residents said on Sunday. Qamar Hayat Khan, a social activist of the Omar Asghar Foundation, told reporters that measles was rapidly spreading to other areas of Hattar and had already claimed the life of Bilal Riaz of Mohallah Dohriyan Hattar on Saturday.

“It is spreading fast. Every second home has more than two measles patients,” he said.

Mr Khan said the first case of measles was reported in his family two weeks ago when his three daughters and over a dozen children of his cousins and other relatives had contracted the disease.

According to him, the affected children were reportedly in the age group of below one year up to 8 years.

School attendance has also been affected by the outbreak of the disease.

To a question, Mr Khan confirmed that he and his other family members had immunised their children against measles and other diseases from the local BHU at a very early age.

The EDO health Haripur was not available for comment.

RALLY: Development workers representing six non-governmental organisations held a rally in Dingi village in protest against the pollution caused by factories in the Hattar Industrial Estate (HIE).

The protestors marched up to the Grand Trunk Road and blocked it for some time. However, they opened the road for traffic at the request of police.

The speakers criticised the industrialists for exposing the eco-system and particularly the residents of surrounding villages to different kinds of hazards.

They said that although industrial development was imperative for the country’s prosperity, such development was not acceptable at it came at the cost of human and other living organisms.

They called for installation of treatment plants at the industrial estate and threatened to take legal action against the industrialists causing pollution.