Water shortage hits Cantt areas as RCB stops supply via tankers

Cash-strapped Rawalpindi Cantonment Board closes down water tankers

RAWALPINDI:

The Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) has stopped the water supply to residential and commercial areas through water tankers, leaving consumers in the lurch as several areas faced a severe shortage of the essential commodity.

Sources said that the water supply through water tankers was suspended across Cantonment areas as the board has been facing funds issues to arrange diesel for the two working tankers out of the five tankers at its disposal.

According to the sources, no steps could be taken to increase the number of water tankers for the last several years and of the five tankers, three were already dysfunctional.

The water scarcity in Cantonment areas is catered to by supplying water through tankers as the residents get water from the network barely for only 45 minutes in 24 hours.

The citizens are not getting water according to their requirements even in the winter. Surprisingly, the RCB has only two operational tankers to supply water to millions of inhabitants but owing to poor maintenance, of the five vehicles, three are inoperative while the two have been rolled back owing to a shortage of funds for arranging diesel for the vehicles.

Citizens have started lodging complaints about the non-supply of water through tankers.

A spokesperson for RCB Muhammad Riyasat said that the damaged tankers will be repaired soon to restore the water supply to Cantonment areas. He declined to comment on the stoppage of diesel to the operative water tankers.

Sources said that the RCB requires at least 10 new tankers to ensure uninterrupted water supply.

On the other hand, most of the funds for development work in Cantonment areas are provided by members of the Punjab Assembly as the board lacks the resources to carry out development work.

 

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2022.