Rawalpindi : Rawalpindi’s water infrastructure is not in good shape. The residents relying on municipal water supply areas are suffering due to water shortage. “To add to our woes, private tanker operators have hiked prices. In summer, the water shortage has proved a costly affair for us. The city’s water scarcity is around 15 million gallons a day or 26% of total demand,” says Shafqat Abbas.
“Throughout summer, we have to purchase water from private tankers at the highest rates as demand surges over the season as the municipal water tankers department people permit filling of private tankers from their facility obviously for making money,” says Binte Zainab.
“The water tankers roar down the streets, delivering water to houses, often spilling through some undetectable leak. We have to buy water tankers almost every week, which costs us Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 owing to the water shortage during the summer. We have to spend every alternate day on water tankers as there is little supply of water,” says Mishaal Hussain.
“Private tankers used to charge Rs900 for a tanker but now the tanker operators charge different rates from Rs1,000 to Rs1,500 based on the demand and the shortage,” says Arif Alvi.
“Something as simple as having a shower is fraught with problems. Most days there is just a trickle of water from the taps and sometimes even that dries up before noon. Being a person with a meager salary I can’t afford to buy a water tanker every other day as I have a big family to feed,” says Safdar Ali.
“Every morning we have to decide whether we want to wash the clothes, utensils, and floors or take a bath. We cannot use it even for cooking. With the amount of water we get, it is impossible to do all the things. We have to go to the neighbor whose bore well is working to get water for drinking,” says Shafqat Abbas.
“In many localities of the city such as Fazal Town, Dheri Hassanabad, Dhamial, Bakra Mandi, Chakri Road, where people bore for water, the situation is the worst. In the absence of a supply of municipal water, to get boring for water is very expensive these days, as the level of underground water has gone down. Due to the increased demand in summer coupled with the water tanker lobby’s increased prices water shortage is proving a major problem for us, “say residents of these localities.
“We do not have a fixed rate for tankers; we fix our prices depending on the need for water and the availability. Naturally, the prices are around Rs1,000-1,500,” say, tanker operators, while the suffering Pindiites say the currency becomes extinct like water in summer.