THATTA, April 25: Consumption of contaminated water being supplied in Mirpur Bathoro has resulted in the spread of water-borne diseases in the town. This was revealed by a survey conducted by this correspondent on Sunday.

Doctors at the Mirpur Bathoro taluka hospital and private medical practitioners confirmed that bacterial and viral infections were on the rise in the town due to consumption of polluted water.

The town residents complained that water being supplied from a reservoir did not go through the process of chlorination and it had a bad smell. They added that recently fishermen had been allowed to fish in the reservoir.

They enter the reservoir and use a hand-held net for fishing. As a result, silt accumulated at the bottom of the reservoir arises and adds to contamination in the water.

The reservoir has knee-deep water these days and is expected to be filled to its capacity after May 20 by the irrigation department. In the meantime, the citizens may have to face water crisis within a week. They have demanded alternate arrangement of water supply.

FOLK SINGER: People's Party Parliamentarians MPAs Humaira Alwani have appealed to the Sindh chief minister to order medical treatment of ailing folk singer, Mai Allah Wasai, at government expenses.

The bed-ridden, Ms Wasai, who is suffering from liver cancer, is unable to bear the treatment expenses on her own. She was presented the Shah Latif Award during the last annual Urs celebrations of the Sufi poet.

On this occasion, the then acting governor and Sindh Assembly speaker Muzaffar Hussain Shah had announced a grant of 100,000 for her but she had not yet received the money.