PESHAWAR, Dec 11: People of the provincial capital are facing an acute shortage of water.

“We have not had a drop of water supply for about a week,” said a consumer.

“We often bring water from a mosque where a tube-well is installed,” said Kashif Khan of Canal Town near Islamia College. He said the town administration had not responded to repeated requests to solve the problem.

“We need Rs160 million to provide water to people in the Town-III but shortage of funds has hindered our plan,” said Peshawar Town-III Nazim Shakirullah Khan. He said the administration was trying to provide clean drinking water to people from the available resources.

The problem is being faced in several areas.

Jahanzeb Khan of Danishabad area said people paid bills to the town administration yet they were forced to use contaminated water. He said those who had approached the officials concerned to solve the problem had failed to get any results.

Students of the University of Peshawar are also among those deprived of water.

On the other hand, water goes to waste because of seepage in rusted pipelines.

According to statistics provided by the services and works department, the city is supplied up to 31.68 million gallons of water daily -- 28.08MGD through 260 tube-wells and 3.6MGD from the Pishtakhara water supply scheme.

Officials said the shortfall of water in the city may surge from the current 4.32MGD to 28.32MGD in two decades if alternative sources are not tapped.

They said that about 70 tube-wells had completed their life span of 15 to 20 years. They said many old tube-wells discharged sand with water which corroded pumps.

According to the services and works department, the city requires 40 more tube-wells to meet the current shortfall. By 2024, 262 more tube-wells would have to be installed to meet the rising demand.

During his referendum campaign, President Pervez Musharraf had announced a package under which 200 tube-wells were to be installed to tackle Peshawar’s water problem but the promise still awaits fulfillment.

The city district government pays Rs8.6 million per month in electricity charges to the Water and Power Development Authority for operating the tube-wells and the bill is set to rise to Rs16.18 million by 2024.

Residents of Shaheen Town said a new tube-well had been installed in their area last year but it was not enough for their needs although they paid Rs200 per month as water bill.

Sources said that lack of maintenance of the tube-wells had also added to the problem.