Water Woes: Mepco severs 97 water supply connections

When they pay the bills we will renew the connections, senior district officer (SDO) Sheikh Sheraz said.

DERA GHAZI KHAN:

The Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has disconnected 97 water supply connections in the Dera Ghazi Khan and Rajanpur districts in the last month. The connections wereDera Ghazi Khan severed due to non payment of utility bills worth Rs300 million.

According to Mepco officials, the company has disconnected 97 connections of water supply schemes because of increasing default connections and the disconnection will affect over four million people in both districts. “The disconnection will have disastrous affects. We don’t really even know how many people will be without clean water for the next few days until this issue can be worked out,” said tehsil municipal administration (TMA) officer Farooq Asghar.

Senior district officer (SDO) Sheikh Sheraz told reporters that TMAs in Dera Ghazi Khan, Taunsa, Jampur, Rajan Pur and tribal area administration failed to deposit utility bills worth millions and Mepco officials had little choice but to sever water connections. “The company is already in dept and we cannot afford to extend deadlines. When they pay the bills we will renew the connections,” Sheraz said. A large part of both the DG Khan and Rajanpur districts depend on water supply schemes as sub soil water for many of these areas is sparse. “The closure of water supply is likely to lead to mass protests and panic,” Sheraz said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 22^nd, 2011.