Peshawar, The minority community in Peshawar still has no legal status of their homes; even provincial government of KP also announced homes for them. The community has 40 families and more than 200 family members, including young women & children have a problem of Garbage smell in their homes.
In 2012 provincial government remove the old residential quarter of the Christian community whose were living in Lahore gate Peshawar. The Christian community has been living there since 1960 and mostly is attached to a different government department including local government. These people work as worker in different places.
ANP Government announced a rehabilitation plan for these families, more than 60 families were living there in Lahore gate. Local government official assures them, if they left their homes for extension of the road, the provincial government will give them another land for homes near the ring road Peshawar. So the Christian community left that area and KP government gives them land near Hazar Khawani area.
Sixty families came to the Hazar Khawani area and the build their own homes on the road side, but provincial government didn’t give them an ownership document of new land. After establishing home of the 40 families in the Hazar Khawani area, the provincial government start dumping site in the same area and now the garbage of the all over Peshawar reached on the same place at Hazar Khawani where the Christian community is living.
I visited that area and because of Smell no one even stands in the front of that area, but the Christian community area, living here because they have no option to go elsewhere. Most of the residents are attached to the local government department as sanitary worker. Asking about the condition the residents are worried talk about their living standard because they are government employees also because of the Christian community.
An old retired citizen Irshad who was sitting in the front of his home said that people worried about their job, that’s why local residents don’t want to talk to the media, according to him he is retired sanitary worker.
He admits that that when the provincial government demolish their homes in Lahore gate Peshawar, the management assured us that we will give you an ownership document of new land but still we didn’t find any document. He said that he get money from different people also his pension and constructed home here, but local government betray with us, they didn’t not even give us ownership document but also after construction here, they start garbage dumping near our home.
Dumping garbage not only create hurdles for the Christian colony people, because more than 1000 Ton Garbage creates smell and mosquitoes in the same area. Residents of the Christian colony now addicted of smell and mosquitoes.
During the visit of Christian colony I noticed that a church also on same area that was constructed after the blast of kohati Church blast, the locals said that on every Sunday local community pray here but no one visits here because of smell and no sui gas in the area.
Local residents are still using wood for cooking according to the local resident Sharafat Maseeh, we have no playground for our children’s. He said that one tube well constructed for our community, that provides drinking water to the people, but after the dumping garbage the drinking water taste change and we know that it’s because of Garbage. But what we do know because we are poor people in community so no one even our own minority member raise voice for u
The retired sanitary worker Irshad said no one took notice of our protest, because we are a Christian community in Peshawar. When the political parties need votes, they come for to us with respect and announcement, but later on they even didn’t visit us.
Garbage dumping ground creates not only issue for the residents of the Christian colony, but also change the environment of the area, all trees in Christian colony are dried, but no one takes notice of the residents of the Christian colony ring road Hazar Khawani Peshawar.
Resident of the Christian colony put Banners of the senior minister Anayat Ullah Khan, the minister of local government and member of Jumat Islami, but it’s also didn’t work for the Christian community in Peshawar.
Member of Pakistan Tehreek Insaf Shukat Yousafzai, whose elected from the same area, which is the PK2 of provincial assembly have no time for the issue of the community, being an elected member of the said area I call him, but he didn’t pick the phone later I sent messages and asked if he talk about the Christian community, but he didn’t reply yet.