May 4, 2006	Thursday	Rabi-us-Sani 5, 1427

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RAWALPINDI, May 3: The water-table in Rawalpindi area has gone down by 150 to 160 feet in the last 24 years, sinking the hopes of the city’s citizens to access ground water even deeper.

Highly-placed sources in the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) told Dawn on Wednesday that the ground water that was available at the depth of 40 to 60 feet in 1982 is now found at the depth of 200 feet.

“Excessive withdrawal of ground water through tubewells, hand pumps and dugwells and increase in consumption and demand by the city’s growing population was cause of depletion of the water table,” the sources said.

They recalled that a study done by the hydrology department of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) in 1982 in Rawalpindi had warned that “there is no further potential in the city for ground water”.

Tubewells contributed most in depleting the water table. In 1982, when 80 tubewells existed in the city, Wapda had advised to restrict sinking of more dugwells in the city.

“But currently there are 209 tubewells in the city - apart from the domestic hand pumps and dugwells - and half of them are drawing contaminated water due to mixing of sewage with ground water,” the sources disclosed.

They said the depletion rate accelerated from 1995 onwards as dependence on ground water and the number of tubewells rose steadily. “We fear that in case more tubewells were sunk, the water table would touch 260 to 300 feet depth in the city”.

They noted that the suction type pumps in use in Rawalpindi were extracting water from the upper level of soil which was in closest contact with the sources of contamination.

“Even the tubewells drilled upto the depth of 150 feet in 1990 are extracting contaminated water as compared with the wells dug upto 200 feet in 2006,” they added.

They warned that water depletion could reach alarming levels in the near future, and it would be difficult to draw water from such huge depths.

“The prevailing situation clearly indicates that only new water reservoirs can overcome the crisis. There is no other alternative solution to the crisis,” the sources said.

They regretted that politicians announce mindlessly more and more tubewells while doing nothing for storing and utilising surface water by building small dams. “The government should impose ban on tubewells otherwise ground water would disappear in Rawalpindi,” they said.

A senior official in the Small Dams Organisation (SDO) told Dawn on condition of anonymity that Wasa, SDO and Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources (PCRWR) have informed the federal and provincial governments that there was no more potential for ground water in Rawalpindi.

“We have urged early construction of the proposed Daducha and Chirah dams as Rawal Dam has lived 42 of its 50 years designed life,” he added.

In 2025 Rawalpindi’s population would reach about 2.32 million and its water demand would increase to 120 million gallons of water per day (mgd) as against its current demand of 72 mgd.

“Unfortunately, the government is not alive to the issue and seeks to solve water shortage through traditional and obsolete means rather than exploring new surface water sources,” the official said.

He said the government should immediately work out strategy and materialise the proposed Daducha and Chirah dams that would provide 40 mgd water to the city for 50 years.