ABBOTTABAD: People of Abbottabad city have been facing acute water shortage for the last four days as the municipal authorities have failed to remove a fault in the water supply system. The affected areas include Kunj Qadeem and Jadeed, Upper and Lower Kehal, Karim Pura, Aram Bagh, Chari Mohallah, Malik Pura and the main bazaar.

When contacted, the water staff of the municipal corporation said that they had informed the authorities that the water supply system had been badly affected due to rain in upper areas. They said that water supply was stopped to avoid choking of filtration plants and the main supply line due to mixing of mud in the water, they added.

The municipal staff said that water supply would be restored once the silt and mud was cleared.It should be noted that around Rs4 billion are being spent on the gravity flow water scheme to supply clean drinking water to Abbottabad city with the financial assistance of the Japanese government.

The storage tanks are closed every time there is rain and the engineering staff of municipality and public health engineering department looks helpless in ensuring smooth water supply to Abbottabad city.

Published in Dawn, September 7th, 2014