| RAWALPINDI: With the mercury touching 31 degrees Celsius, water shortage has increased in cantonment areas with the Rawalpindi and Chaklala cantonment boards warning the issue would linger as no mega water project was in the pipeline.
Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) and Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) have started water rationing as they supply water after a day or two for less than an hour.
Former CCB vice president Raja Irfan Imtiaz told Dawn that the elected members of the cantonments were suspended due to the election schedule in Punjab and they would resume their work after the polls.
He said that the elected members were worried about the shortage of water but there was no solution.
He said that water was being supplied to the residents from Khanpur Dam but the management of Sangjani Filtration Plant said that there was no water in the dam so it reduced the supply.
He said tubewells were not enough to meet the requirement of water which increased in the summer. He said the elected members had requested the federal government to chalk out a plan to provide water from other dams to the cantonments areas.
He said that more than 200 complaints daily were lodged with the civic body and it had no option but to arrange tankers.
An RCB official told Dawn that the water level had reduced at Khanpur Dam which was the main source of water for the cantonment areas. He said the civic body was planning to install more tubewells but the water level had decreased in the city and cantonment areas.
He said the tankers were provided to people especially in thickly populated areas. He said that water rationing was necessary to manage things.
However, the residents were of the view that mismanagement of the civic body was the main reason for the water shortage as the tankers were being supplied to influential people only while the poor were ignored.
“We hire water tanker while paying Rs2,500 and the private water tankers demand more in the summer season,” said Mohammad Akbar, a resident of Peshawar Road.
Mohammad Omer, a trader at Bank Road, said that Bank Road area was facing water shortage but the RCB had not done anything to improve the supply.
Published in Dawn, April 17th, 2023 |
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