Water woes: Residents face shortage as container ruptures pipeline

CDA gives cold shoulder to residents’ complaints.

ISLAMABAD: A shipping container has ruptured a water pipeline at the entrance of Chak Shehzad near Park Road, suspending supply to a major portion of the city.

Water from the damaged pipeline has inundated a nearby bridge and adjoining roads, causing inconvenience to commuters and pedestrians.

Several containers have been placed by the administration at the entry and exit points of the twin cities as a security measure to quell people, especially workers of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Pakistan Awami Tehreek, who make regular visits to the sit-ins sites of both the parties.

Residents said that soon after the rupture, they approached the authorities but got no response. Till our filing of this report, the water was gushing from the damaged pipeline.

Haroon Khan, a resident of Chak Shehzad said that Capital Development Authority officials claim to have taken measures to save pipelines from damage, but they have failed to plug in the ruptured pipe.

He said that the government has blocked the main Park Road by placing shipping containers and the police change the position of containers, which caused the damage to two water pipelines.

He said that soon after the pipeline was damaged, water started inundating roads.

He said that the residents informed police personnel deployed at a nearby checkpost to help them contact the CDA authorities, but they also gave them a cold shoulder.

“They refused to offer any help because they thought that it was not their responsibility,” he said.

Khan said that the residents could face water shortage if the leakage was not plugged at the earliest as they were already reeling under water scarcity.

“Timely action is necessary in such a situation as water is a precious commodity,” he said, urging the authorities to understand the urgency.

He said that the people had to rely on water tankers in such a situation, which, many could not afford to.

CDA spokesperson Asim Kichi told The Express Tribune that the authority has a separate department — bulk water directorate — to deal with such issues.

He said that he was not aware of the leakage but claimed that he would immediately direct the officials to plug the leakage.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2014.