Teams scrambled to curb water theft

Given the constant increase in demand for water in the ongoing summer season and the city’s water supply falling short of seven million gallons per day, the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has mobilised its teams to curb the potential water theft.

Sources said until now 3,127 illegal water connections have been removed which will help the agency generate an annual revenue of Rs44 million. Meanwhile, the search for more illegal water connections remains under way.

According to sources, at present, WASA’s daily water supply through its 480 tube wells and Khanpur and Rawal dams is 54 million gallons against the demand of 61 million gallons with a shortfall of seven million gallons of water per day.

The sources said the daily water demand is expected to increase due to the ongoing gradual increase in the intensity of heat and on the other hand if the underground water level falls, the current supply of water may also decrease.

Therefore, to increase the daily water supply in this situation, besides finding and disconnecting the illegal water connections, increasing the daily supply of water from the Khanpur and Rawal dams will also have to be WASA’s priority.

According to WASA spokesperson, Umar Farooq, at present the major obstacle in the water supply is enhanced power outage, which is adversely affecting the schedule of running tube wells.

“In this context, IESCO authorities have been requested not to carry out load-shedding during the tube well running schedule or the tube well running schedule should be prepared according to the load shedding timings,” the spokesperson said.

Farooq said not only the water supply system was being upgraded but the water leakage was also being controlled. “So far, 9,328 water supply connections have been upgraded, which has not only improved the water supply but also generated an additional revenue of Rs2.8 million per month for WASA,” he said.

The spokesperson claimed that while giving priority to meeting the daily water needs of the citizens, a plan has been devised to disconnect the water connections of illegal and defaulter service stations as well, which will increase water saving and supply will be given in areas where the system has been badly affected.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 18^th, 2023.