LAHORE, Oct 1: Power bills devour around 70 per cent of Wasa budget, leaving the agency with little resources to carry out its main function of repairing and maintaining its shabby water supply system in the city.

The paucity of the funds also forces Wasa to focus only on those areas where complaints of water-related problems are abound.

Low water pressure, leakage and contamination are common problems of these areas.

This year, Wasa has allocated Rs143 million for the replacement of water supply lines and ‘t-connections’ in areas which include Gulshan-i-Ravi, Shalamar, Baghbanpura, Mahmood Booti, Farooq Park, Afshan Park, Gul Behar Colony and Harbanspura.

However, the other areas, which also have been facing water-related problems, but are not on the list of Wasa’s repair and maintenance of water supply system include the Walled City, Green Town, Township, Ravi Road, Mozang and Ichhra.

When contacted, Wasa officials said they had prepared about 297 water supply-related schemes to be implemented during the current year.

“Wasa moves to provide water facilities on every complaint in any area,” they claimed. But, they said, due to shortage of funds they were forced to ignore the areas where the water problems were not of acute nature.

They claimed that Wasa had not increased water bills since 1998 whereas the electricity bills had been increased several times. “Unless Wapda gives some relief to Wasa, it cannot satisfy all of its 4.5 million consumers,” they said.

The water supply timing has also been reduced from 24 hours to 16 hours and Wasa holds Wapda responsible for it.

The officials also maintained that several new housing schemes developed in different parts of the city had their own water supply systems and Wasa had nothing to do with them. But, they said, Wasa was held responsible whenever a problem arose in these colonies.

Besides, a part of the scant funds available with the utility for development was spent on the installation of new tubewells. Wasa plan to install 21 tubewells of four and two cusecs at Faiz Bagh, Fasih Road, Al-Faisal Town, Race Course Road, Sanda Khurd, Muslim Abad Rehmanpura, Iqbal Town, Township, Shadara, Datanagar, Gulshan-i-Ravi, Faisal Town, Farrukabad, Qaisar Town, Achant Garth and Gulberg this year that would increase their number to 363 from the existing 342, they said.

Wasa provided 80 gallon water to each consumer per day.

“A huge quantity of water is being wasted by watering plants, lawns, and streets and this practice must be stopped to avoid shortage in the months to come,” they said.

According to a study of the Water Resource Strategy, 2002, over 25,000 people are suffering from different diseases in the city because of the contamination of potable water.

According to a study, out of 3,063 water samples collected from different places from across the Punjab during January-August this year, some 917 were found contaminated.