Living without water

Every drop of rain brings hope and satisfaction to the people living in a village near Murree. This is because these people have to rely on stored rain water to carry out their diurnal activities. The authorities concerned who live in posh areas where taps never run dry cannot understand the anguish and discomfort that residents have to deal with when there is no water to cook food or run daily errands. When it doesn’t rain, especially in summer, residents have to walk on a rough terrain to fetch a bucket of water. Women of the village can be seen balancing a bucket of water on their heads and one around their arms, carefully walking to their homes. In addition, rainwater cannot be stored for long because it acts as a breeding ground for small worms that contaminate the water.

The argument that a viable solution in this situation is land boring is flawed mainly because many people living in these villages are not affluent. First, they do not have enough means to bear the cost of boring. Second, that the groundwater will be available in hilly areas is not a given. Provision of uninterrupted supply of water is the responsibility of the government. Before every elections, candidates promise to resolve these issues. However, once they are elected, they forgot about all the hopes they had given to residents. The relevant authorities must look into these issues and take relevant steps to resolve them at the earliest.

Bareera Amjad

Murree