Residents of Rawalpindi parched on Eid

Supply from Khanpur Dam tapers off and tube-wells run dry

RAWALPINDI: Eidul Fitr was a festive occasion for many across the country, albeit the warm weather made it sweaty. But for residents of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and some other parts of Rawalpindi, their problems were exacerbated by a shortage of water.

Residents of areas such as Tench Bhata, Misriyal, and Dhok Syedan faced a scarcity of water, particularly during the Eidul Fitr holidays.

The shortage was apparently caused by an inadequate supply of water from the Khanpur Dam while the situation was exacerbated after a large number of tube wells went out of order.

Noorani Muhalla

Residents of Noorani Muhalla, a neighbourhood of Tench Bhata, said that water supply to half of the neighbourhood was shut days before Eidul Fitr.

Haji Muhammad Iqbal and other residents of the area said that water was only supplied for around 15 minutes after five or six days. This, they said, was insufficient for catering to the needs of the neighbourhood’s population.

“We are at the mercy of valve-man mafia who supply water as per their own will to the street of their own choice,” they said.

They demanded of the cantonment administration to take immediate notice of the discriminatory attitude towards the impoverished areas of the cantonment.

UC-9 facing shortage

The nearby areas of Pirwadhai also experienced water shortage during the Eid holidays after a number of tube wells and filtration plants stopped working.

Union Council (UC) 9 Chairman and Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) leader Ghulam Khan said that a number of areas of Pirwadhai, including Bangash Colony, were facing a severe shortage of water.

Ghulam also sought a meeting with MNA from Rawalpindi and Federal Railways Minister Sheikh Rasheed Ahmed at his famed Lal Haveli over Eid to convey the difficulties faced by residents of the area owing to water scarcity.

The UC chairman said that the Liaquat Bagh Water Supply station only had two water tankers available to ferry water to houses in the area. These, he said, were insufficient for catering to the water demand from such a large area.

At this, Ahmed directed the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) of Rawalpindi to immediately repair two dilapidated tube-wells in the area and to provide the requisite number of water tankers to Bangash and Badar colonies which fall in UC-9.

The lawmaker said that no negligence in the water supply to the citizens would be tolerated.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 10^th, 2019.