Water crisis exacerbates in Pindi

Unannounced power cuts affect water supply through dams, tube wells

RAWALPINDI:

The water crisis in Rawalpindi city and Cantonment has exacerbated due to the working schedule of the water supply system of tube wells and water pumping stations of Khanpur and Rawal dams owing to the load-shedding.

Load-shedding for an hour after every hour has also badly affected the routine life and businesses amidst scorching heat. The growing gap between water supply and demand has created a worrying situation in the city. Due to power cuts, the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) and Cantonment boards were also facing difficulties in filling overhead tanks.

Citizens said that the water shortage has increased manifold in the recent past amidst rising temperatures.

The Water and Sanitation Agency WASA and Cantonment Board have already issued an advisory to the citizens to use water carefully. According to WASA sources, the operation of tube wells has badly been affected by prolonged load-shedding.

Experts say that they can only overcome the water crisis in the twin cities after lying a pipeline to fetch water from Ghazi Bharuta Dam.

Talking to The Express Tribune, WASA Managing Director Raja Shaukat Mehmood said that future planning has become inevitable to meet the ever-increasing water need of the garrison city.

He said that Rawal Dam, Khanpur Dam and tube wells were not capable of meeting the future water needs of the twin cities. He said that in the first phase, 200 million gallons of water may be made available for the twin cities from Ghazi Barotha Dam. While the supply can be doubled in the second and third phases.

Mehmood said that water supply from Rawal Lake filtration plant has become impossible and similarly water supply from Khanpur Dam has been affected.

He said that water supply from Khanpur and Rawal dams has also been affected due to increasing load-shedding.

The water tanker business has thrived in the city, as 250 gallons of water tanker is being sold for Rs600 and 500 gallons of water tanker is being sold for Rs1200.

Experts warn of the worst water crisis

Meanwhile, experts on Thursday said Pakistan was on the brink of becoming a water-scarce nation due to aggravating temperature rise and climate change which demanded improved water pricing and governance to avert the looming threat of shortage.

The water experts, members of the diplomatic community, academia, government departments and media made these remarks at the inauguration of the International Water Management Institute (IWMI) Pakistan liaison office here which was inaugurated by Deputy Director-General, IWMI Dr Rachael McDonnell, who also gave a presentation on climate change impacts on water resources availability in Pakistan.

She said that “IWMI uses research for development approach to implement three strategic programs including water, food and ecosystems; water, climate change and resilience; and water, growth and inclusion, to support the efforts of the government of Pakistan to meet its targets under the Sustainable Development Goals.”

Dr Rachael added, “Our priorities - co-developed with federal ministries, provincial governments and development partners are aimed to support the design and implementation of effective policies around water, food and climate. With additional input APP

 

Published in The Express Tribune, May 20^th, 2022.