June 7, 2003	Saturday	Rabi-us-Sani 6, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, June 6: The water shortage situation has worsened in the city with the shooting up of murcury. The water shortage increased by over three million gallons a day (MGD), during the last couple of weeks, an official source told Dawn.

He said this was in addition to the shortfall of 6.8MGD, which the city was facing since the start of the hot spell.

Citing the mounting complaints which Wasa has been receiving from various parts of Satellite Town, Sadiqabad and its adjoining areas, the source said if the current hot wave persisted, the water shortage would aggarvate in most parts of the city.

Referring to official statistics, the source said Wasa had a capacity of water supply of 30MGD against the total demand of 36.8MGD. This meant that the city is experiencing a shortfall of 6.8MGD (about 10 per cent) even under normal situation.

He cited the decrease of supply from tubewells due to depletion of watertable as the reason of the additional 3MGD shortfall.

He said Wasa had claimed of producing 18MGD from 199 tubewells. However, it hardly produces 15MGD despite installation of 10 more tubewells in Khurram Colony, Model Town, Christian Colony, Block A and E, Satellite Town, Dhoke Elahi Bakhsh, Sherpao Colony, Mohanpura (College Road), Liaquat Bagh and Hunza Colony, he added.

Apart from the water shortage, the second problem many localities of the city, including Raja Bazaar and Sadiqabad, were facing is supply of contaminated water, the source said.

He said sewage water seeped into the water pipeline in different localities. The complain of getting contaminated water even after the laying of new pipeline still remains there. The ADB-funded pipeline was laid completed under the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project.

When contacted, a Wasa official said they were not expecting any acute water shortage in the coming weeks. However, he did agree that water pressure had remained low in parts of the city as the ratio of consumption had increased due to hot weather. The increased use of illegal suction pumps in commercial as well as non-commercial areas had also added to the problem, he added.

Responding to a question, the Wasa official said no rationing of water had started as the supply hours still remained the same — nine hours a day.

After the completion of the Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Project, he said, the water supply has doubled as the water agency was getting 16MGD from Rawal Lake as compared to 8MGD it received last year during the same period. Therefore, the situation has improved this year, he added.

Moreover, Wasa received 3MGD from Khanpur Dam on permanent basis, he said, adding that water was supplied to the areas of Pirwadhai, Khayaban-i-Sir Syed, Satellite Town (partially), Shamsabad, Public Park Area and Pindora. He said after setting up of a network of tubewells, Wasa would be able to meet shortage of one area by supplying water from tubewells of the other area.