Currently the federal capital’s twin is battling on many fronts, which include dengue, pollution, and overpopulation; and now an addition to that list is the lack of clean water for the city’s more than two million residents.
Most of Rawalpindi’s water supply network consists of corroded pipes which pass through sewer lines and polluted channels causing contamination in the clean water. Resultantly, the number of patients visiting hospitals due to waterborne diseases has seen an upsurge.
Nasir Mir, the former deputy nazim of Dhok Rata and a social worker, highlighting the issue said that effluent contamination in the city’s water supply was a recurring problem. “Since most of the sewage pipes in the city are corroded, the wastewater leaks out of them and contaminates the clean water supply.”
Mir also pointed out that another reason for contamination was the change in supply pipes.
“10 to 15 years ago galvanised iron (GI) pipes were used for supplying water but these were replaced with PVC pipes, which has resulted in disaster,” Mir explained, adding that the plastic pipes deteriorate quickly and were a bad decision by the district administration.
Naveed Kanwal, a trader and resident of Moti Bazaar, expanding on Mir’s views, said that the residents and businesses of the city were in dire straits due to lack of clean water and mostly had to rely on contaminated water for daily use purposes.
Long-term residents of Rawalpindi, Mohammad Naveed, Akbar Hussain and Shabbir Hussain, concurring with Kanwal, complained that the district administration was yet to address the city’s “glaring contaminated water problem.”
However, they also conceded that residents also had a part to play in the contamination as the water tanks built at their homes were not cleaned regularly and neither were any steps taken to filter the water.
Due to the inattention of residents and district administration alike patients with waterborne diseases like diarrhoea and giardiasis have seen an increase in the city’s hospitals. Additional Medical Superintendent at the Holy Family Hospital, Dr Tanveer Ahmed, said that an influx had been witnessed in patients with gastrointestinal diseases.
“The contaminated water is to be blamed but patients also do not adopt any precautionary measures such as boiling water.” Dr Ahmed implored that to prevent the spread of disease, residents of the city had to ensure that they clean their water tanks and boil water before consumption.
Managing Director of Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA), Muhammad Tanveer, when questioned about the city’s contaminated water supply, said that supply lines had been changed in the city in several stages. “We are currently supplying water from 480 tube wells and 160 filtration plants and always ensure that the water supply is clean.”
He further said that if the department receives any complaints they address them immediately by sampling the water.
“We have also issued an advisory to the citizens several times to keep the water tanks at their homes clean. However, we have observed that the water tanks are not cleaned for years on end, which is why their water is contaminated,” informed Tanveer while talking to The Express Tribune.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 22nd, 2022.
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