Water scarcity: Residents left in the lurch by district administration

PESHAWAR: Residents from various union councils in Peshawar have voiced their objections over the district administration’s decision to connect the main water supply pipeline to their households at their own expense.

They have said water connections were disconnected by the authorities when old and rusted water supply lines were being replaced. However, several residents, especially those who earn daily wages, cannot afford to install these connections.

The areas which are experiencing a shortage of water are Sardcha Gate, Asia Gate, Sarki Gate and Ramdas.

A resident told The Express Tribune, “Peshawar Municipal Services have replaced the pipelines. However, residents are now facing problems as the officials failed to connect the main supply line with one connected to their homes.”

He added, “Most of the residents could not afford the cost of connection installation.”

Another resident said, “I earn Rs500 every day. How can I install water connection at a cost of Rs5,000?”

The replacement of water supply pipelines was carried out in 25 union councils of Peshawar under the two-year project by Municipal Service Programme (MSP).

When contacted, MSP Infrastructure Officer Mohsin Shehzad told The Express Tribune the project aimed to replace leaking water supply pipelines to improve the existing infrastructure.

He added the project’s main goal was to improve the health and living conditions of citizens.  “The project did not include providing connection to households.” He added their task was to replace the water supply pipelines that were rusted, damaged or had leakages.

He added the government also directed the project officials to disconnect water connections of those households who did not pay water bills.

Water and Sanitation Services Peshawar Spokesperson Taimoor Shah told The Express Tribune the replacement of pipelines had nothing to do with WSSP. He clarified WSSP only repairs and maintains sanitation pipelines. He added MSP was an independent project and WSSP had no authority to intervene in their project.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 11^th, 2016.