Scarce water keeps pace with rising mercury
Photo: Reuters
The rise in mercury in Rawalpindi and its adjoining areas has resulted in an intensification of the water problem in the garrison city and its cantonments, with residents in densely-populated areas complaining of lack of supply.
With dozens of tube wells drying up due to depleting water tables, people’s reliance on ‘exploitative’ tanker operators has increased. Several residents told The Express Tribune that the price of a tanker of 1500 litres had witnessed a sudden price spike from Rs4,000 to Rs7,000.
Meanwhile, the cantonment authorities and Water & Sanitation Agency (Wasa) have reduced water supply by almost half, say residents and commercial customers claiming to be ‘in dire straits and at the mercy of the tanker mafia’.
The situation has persisted since the second week of July, with repeated complaints of water supply from across Rawalpindi as well the cantonments of Chaklala and the garrison city.
Muhammad Jameel, a resident of Saddar in Rawalpindi’s cantonment area, said that the water supply had decreased at a time when they needed more water due to the extreme heat.
Temperatures in Rawalpindi have hovered at 40 degrees Celsius with feels-like temperatures even higher. The feels-like temperature is calculated by taking into account multiple parameters including air temperature, wind speed, humidity, atmospheric pressure, etc.
Local as well as national authorities have issued advisories regarding precautions during heatwave-like conditions, with the met department predicting rain on Sunday to end the heat spell. In the interim, residents of the cantonment board say that water is being supplied for only half an hour. The duration of water supply at drinking water filtration points in the cantonment areas has also been reduced to two hours.
“Due to limited water supply, residents are facing difficulties,” said one consumer Muhammad Jameel.
He said that he had filed a complaint with the water branch at the cantonment office. “That is when I earned about the depleting levels of underground water,” he said. This has resulted in a reduction in the water supply from the tube well.
Farman Qureshi, a resident of Scheme 3, said there was a severe shortage in his locality Jhanda Chichi. The problem was equally bad in Scheme 1 of Gharibabad in Dhok Kala Khan.
The water supply in no way fulfils domestic requirements, he said. “It is provided in short bursts.”
Qureshi claimed that tankers were selling for as much as Rs9,000 in his area.
Officials of the cantonment board said that 50 per cent of the water supply in its areas was obtained from tube wells, while the other 50 per cent of the requirements were met from the water obtained from Khanpur Dam.
They said the situation was exacerbated due to the extreme weather. The water received from Khanpur Dam has also declined which has made the water shortage problem acute in some areas, they added.
Meanwhile, Wasa officials said that it was due to decreasing level of underground water.
Published in The Express Tribune, June 24th, 2023.