ISLAMABAD: The main opposition in the capital’s local government, the Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf (PTI), has announced a protest campaign against the water shortage in almost all of the city’s residential sectors.

Elected representatives from the Metropolitan Corporation Islamabad (MCI) and party workers will set up protest camps in all residential sectors on March 28, and on March 29 MNA Asad Umar will lead a protest rally from the G-9 Markaz to the CDA offices.

Mr Umar and MCI opposition leader Ali Awan will also hold a joint press conference on their future strategy.

Although summer has not yet set in, residents of the federal capital are already facing a severe water shortage.

Mr Awan has said the CDA should begin making arrangements to provide city residents with water to meet a shortage of 80 million gallons daily (MGD).

“We have asked the CDA to address the water issue many times, but it has never listened to our suggestions,” Mr Awan said.

On Sunday, Mr Awan, NA-48 PTI president Naeem Khan, general secretary Jamshed Mughal and party workers visited various union councils to finalise arrangements for their protest.

Protest camps to be set up on March 28, followed by rally from G-9 to CDA HQ

In addition to the CDA’s failure to address the water shortage, some officials in the authority are also allegedly involved in stealing water using illegal connections.

The CDA last week initiated an inquiry against officials involved in stealing water using illegal connections from the main supply line from Simly Dam. The deputy director of the Simly Dam Division, Mohammad Adnan Younis, has been appointed inquiry officer, and was directed to inspect the supply line and point out the names of officials involved in water theft.

Mr Awan told Dawn the PTI held a rally and press conference last year on the water issue, but the matter has risen again this year before the start of summer.

“There are short and long term solutions to the issue, but water is not included in the CDA’s priorities,” he added.

When asked about the short term solutions, Mr Awan said two out of three pumps at the Khanpur Dam are out of order, which has led to a 66pc fall in the water supply.

“There are 192 tubewells, of which 80 are out of order. These tubewells should be repaired. The CDA has 36 water tankers, but out of those 21 are out of order. Not only should those tankers be repaired, but new tankers should also be purchased. Unfortunately, just like in Karachi, private water tankers are being encouraged to provide water because they charge several times more,” he said.

In terms of long term solutions, Mr Awan said new tubewells should be excavated because the discharge of old tubewells has fallen. He said the Simly Dam should be upraised and new small dams established.

“Moreover, the time has come to immediately finalise the Ghazi Barotha pipeline project as the cost of the project has increased manifold,” he said.

During the Musharraf government, a project to supply water from the Indus River was proposed at an initial cost of over Rs26 billion, but could not be completed because Sindh refused to give its share to Islamabad. The water issue was later addressed, but work on the project was not started.

In February last year, the Capital Administration and Development Division minister Tariq Fazal Chaudhry told the National Assembly that the Ghazi Barotha project, worth Rs60 to 70 billion, would be started to soon to meet the city’s water needs for the 25 years, but work on it did not begin.

Shahid Nazir, an I-10 resident, told Dawn the water issue is “severe” and said immediate steps should be taken to address it.

According to CDA spokesperson Mazhar Hussain, it is the G and I sectors that are mainly facing the shortage, and the authority is working to address the matter because the water issue is a priority.

Published in Dawn, March 27th, 2017