Adiala Road residents protest acute shortage of water

Rawalpindi : Motorists faced a hell-like situation due to the blockage of main Adiala Road as a large number of residents staged a protest demonstration followed by a ‘sit-in’ against an acute shortage of water here Friday.

The protesters were carrying banners and placards in their hands raising full-throated slogans against the district administration, Rawalpindi, and elected representatives of different political parties for failing to provide drinking water to locals for over 20 years. The protesters were also carrying empty glasses and jugs in their hands demanding of supply water for them. A heavy contingent of police tried to disperse protesters to restore the flow of traffic but failed till the filing of this report.

Water Consumer Rights Committees (WCRC) Chairman Raja Ijaz who was leading the rally said that Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) and elected representatives badly failed to provide them with drinking water for over 20 years. The locals of Adiala Road are dying in absence of water but the district administration, Rawalpindi and elected representatives of different political parties are not doing anything to rectify the situation. “We have filed several applications to provide us drinking water but in vain,” he denounced.

The other protesters claimed that they were not getting water through the tanker mafia as well because of the district administration’s action against the mafia. As a result, they said we are facing a famine-like situation for over a month but the local administration seems to be in a deep slumber.

It seems that the local administration, Rawalpindi has remained oblivious to the crisis faced by the residents of Adiala Road for over 20 years. The residents of Adiala Road were merely reliant on the ‘tanker mafia’ for over two decades and now the local administration has also snatched the only source of water supply from residents of Adiala Road too and stopped illegal ‘water hydrants’ by confiscating all motors during an operation.

The majority of business activities and petrol pumps also remained closed due to unrest at Adiala Road on Friday.

The motorists tried to find out some alternative routes to reach their destinations but in vain due to the protest demonstration.

Wasa Managing Director Muhammad Tanvir told ‘The News’ that they were trying to supply water to the residents of Adiala Road on a priority basis. We have deposited Iesco’s demand notice money of Rs4.1 million to provide full voltage electricity to tubewells for supply of water.