ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has directed the federal and provincial authorities to take immediate steps to prevent the spread of cholera in Pir Koh, a settlement in the remote region of Dera Bugti in Pakistan's southwestern Balochistan province, reported the state-owned APP news agency on Sunday.

According to local officials, residents of Pir Koh, which has a population of about 40,000, were forced to drink contaminated water from ponds in the absence of clean drinking water in recent weeks.

The water shortage led to the outbreak of cholera, though the provincial government said last week it was aware of the situation and had allocated funds to supply fresh and uncontaminated water to the area.

According to the district health officer, Azam Bugti, six people have so far died of cholera which has affected 2,250 people.

"[The prime minister] instructed that food items, clean drinking water and other assistance should be delivered to the affectees in Pir Koh," said the APP. "He directed that the provision of medicines and clean water should be ensured."

Dera Bugti, a town rich with natural gas, has been fulfilling the country’s fuel requirements since 1951, though poverty and lawlessness have deprived its own people of basic needs during all these decades.

Pakistan’s state-owned Oil and Gas Development Company Limited (OGDCL) has been regularly providing four water bousers in Pir Koh, but these are no longer sufficient for the growing population of the area.

Local authorities say they have set up another hospital in the area with the help of the OGDCL where at least 40 cholera patients are currently receiving treatment.

Special health teams from Quetta, comprising 12 doctors and eight paramedics, have also reached Pir Koh to provide medical assistance.