January 2, 2003	Thursday	Shawwal 28, 1423

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ISLAMABAD, Jan 1: About 10 to 12 million gallons of water is wasted in the capital every day, which is highest among other cities, says State of Consumer Rights Report 2001.

According to the report, which has been launched by the Consumer Rights Commission of Pakistan (CRCP) in collaboration with Action Aid Pakistan, the residents waste water despite it is being provided much below the demand.

It said under the Islamabad Capital Territory Municipal By- Laws 1969, the sanitation department of the Capital Development Authority (CDA) could check and take appropriate actions against persons indulged in wilful misuse or wastage of water through means such as cleaning or washing of driveways, cars and overflowing water taps.

In 2000, the CDA issued 452 notices to the residents of different sectors under the law but no strict action was taken against them.

Quoting a survey by the students of a local university, the report said about 27 per cent water was wasted in Islamabad due to faulty installations, while 14 per cent water was wasted due to careless public attitude.

The daily requirement of water in Islamabad is 100MGD, but the supply was much below the demand. The average water supply to the capital in January 2001 was about 50MGD, while residents received 47.97MGD in May 2001. On the average, the demand-supply gap was 35MGD.

It said natural water scarcity might be one of the reason of less supply, but unsustainable consumption was the key factor in large demand-supply gap in the federal capital.

The report also noted that per capita consumption of water in Islamabad was three times higher than in other large cities, while the CDA policies regarding distribution of drinking water reflects discrimination against underprivileged sectors and rural areas located within territorial limits of the authority. Inequitable water rationing is one such example, which the CDA undertakes.

Sectors with affluent and high income residents get more water than the underprivileged sectors, it said. The rationing pattern was kept secretive, therefore the public had no access to the rationing procedure.

The report said in numerous cases, the quality of water provided by the CDA did not met the WHO standards. The authority officials repeatedly said the CDA was providing clean and pollution free potable water, which conforms to the WHO standards for drinking water.

It said the official viewpoint runs contrary to the evidence. In April 2001, the interior ministry warned the CDA to keep a check on supply of contaminated water as it was causing Hepatitis E in some sectors.

Earlier in 1999, the Justice Dilawar Commission reported with evidences from doctors, experts and health officers that the authority was not providing potable water to the residents. The commission found that the CDA was negligent and treated the issue of water quality as a low priority agenda.

The report said, the authority was one of the most-funded civic agencies responsible for supply of drinking water, but despite its huge infrastructure and funds, it failed to supply potable water to the residents of Islamabad at large.

About the overall accessibility and availability of drinking water in the country, the report said only 40 per cent population had access to clean drinking water in conformity with the WHO standards. Most of the cities do not get sufficient water quantity to meet the resident’s demand.

In major cities like Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi, the average demand-supply gap was as high as 35MGD, 17.8MGD and 235MGD respectively. The gap was widening due to short rainfall, water pilferage and unchecked water wastage by both residents and civic agencies responsible for water supply. Experts have estimated that one out of three persons in Pakistan will face shortage of water in the next 25 years at the prevailing rate of consumption.

The report pointed out a multitude of factors responsible for plummeting availability of drinking water, including fundamental flaws in national water policy, which did not envisaged prudent mechanism of water conservation. The existing legislation on water largely deals with the issue of water distribution, it added.

It is only after the beginning of water crisis that the government has realized the need for an integrated and pervasive approach for preservation of water reserves, the report said.

Natural scarcity of water is a contributing factor for decreasing availability of water, where as mismanagement and structural differences in water distribution are also exacerbating the effects of this scarcity.

Only Peshawar loses around two million-acre feet of water every year owing to lack of storage capacity and flaws in the distribution system, the report said.