Not a drop to drink

Already reliant on tankers, DHA residents find themselves without clean water

If their homes being flooded was not enough, the residents of Clifton and Defence Housing Authority (DHA) have been facing another predicament since record-breaking rains lashed the city on Thursday - although they are surrounded by water, they have none they can use.

Complaining that rainwater had seeped into the tanks at their homes, citizens told The Express Tribune they were trying to clean them without the help of the authorities, adding that the supply of water to the city's most upscale areas had always been a challenge for the administration.

"We already rely completely on tankers to supply us with water," said Mushtaq Ahmed, who lives in DHA Phase 2, adding that even this service had been halted since Thursday's downpour. "The underground tank is full of contaminated water," he complained. "But I don't see any officials coming to help us. I've installed a suction pump to clean it, but it will take a few days for things to return to normal."

Saqlain, a resident of Phase 7, recounted that his family had purchased bottles of water and were using it for everything. "Even the water supplied by tankers appears to be contaminated."

Another resident of Phase 2, Kashif Khawaja, explained that a water tanker cost anywhere from Rs3,500 to Rs5,000. "There is an acute crisis of potable water and the authorities should come to our aid during such a crisis," he insisted, demanding that the enduring water supply problem be resolved once and for all. "This issue is because we have to get water through tankers and store it for days. Daily piped supply could resolve many issues," he added, pointing out that the heavy tankers damaged roads too.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 1^st, 2020.