Water shortage intensifies in Pindi

People have to stand in long queues in sweltering heat to get water

RAWALPINDI:

The water shortage has intensified in the garrison city as the groundwater level went down around 700 feet on Friday while the water in Rawal Dam and Khanpur Dam has touched the dead level.

“Water supply in Khayaban-e-Sir Syed is available only three days a week while on the remaining four days citizens have no choice but form a queue to fetch water from outside. The serious shortage of water has made our lives miserable especially in this hot weather,” said Saeed Shams, a resident of the locality.

Talking to The Express Tribune Shakrial resident Muhammad Ayub said that water shortage in his locality has reached its peak in the city. “The use of water has increased in the scorching heat but there is no water supply. In this situation, people are buying water tankers to meet their water needs,” he said. A tanker is being sold for Rs3,000 to Rs4,000 for which they have to wait for several days after they book an order for the water tanker, he added.

Read 508 water schemes announced for S Punjab

Some areas including Khayaban-e-Sir Syed, Pirwadhai, Hazara Colony, Dhok Rata, Shakrial, Dhok Khabba, Tench, Misryal Road, Chakra, Dhamiyal, Dhok Chaudhariyan, Dhok Syedan, Dhok Banaras, Range Road, Katarian, Sadiqabad, Gawalmandi, Scheme III, Gulistan Colony, Lalarukh Colony, Gharibabad, Rahimabad and Railway Scheme, are facing serious water shortage.

A Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) official on the condition of anonymity said that hundreds of construction projects in Rawalpindi have been completed or in being completed. The reason for the water shortage is because of the presence of concrete everywhere. Rainwater does not go underground, but flows into the river through the canals. He added that WASA officials have informed the Punjab government several times that the only solution to the water crisis in Rawalpindi is the construction of Daducha and Ghazi Barotha dams.

The groundwater level has dropped to alarming levels, making it difficult to operate tubewells, he said, adding that there is only two-and-a-half months of water supply left remaining in the Rawal Dam. Hopefully, the monsoon rains will raise the water level in both the dams, he added.

According to experts, groundwater level has gone down around 700 feet while several tubewells have dried up because of prolonged dry spell. They added that construction of the Daducha and Ghazi Barotha dams must be completed immediately to deal with the serious water shortage.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 10^th, 2021.