HARIPUR: The residents of T&T Colony have complained about the prolonged water shortage and criticised the authorities for not repairing faulty tubewells.

They told Dawn that two tubewells sunk five decades ago supplied water to over 500 T&T Colony quarters and bungalows.

The residents said one of the tubewells’ pumping machines had developed a fault a fortnight ago but the authorities instead of fixing the problem used the other tubewell for water supply.

They added that the second tubewell, too, went out of order 10 days ago.

The residents said they’re in distress due to water shortage as they couldn’t afford to purchase water from private bowsers. They said they had to fetch water from the neighbouring Noor Colony, Roshanabad and Central Jail areas.

“The PTCL authorities are delaying the replacement of faulty machines despite received our repeated complaints,” resident Shahwaiz Khan said.

He regretted that the PTCL collected bills regularly but didn’t address the colony residents’ complaints.

When contacted, PTCL director Rasheed Ahmad Malghani said the tubewell machinery was five decades old and had gone out of order despite repeated repair and maintenance.

He claimed the Tehsil Municipal Administration bowsers intermittently supplied water to the colony, including its mosques, while some houses were supplied water from the NRTC Factory’s tubewells under a temporary arrangement.

The official said one pumping machine would become functional shortly after repair.

He said a team of engineers from PTCL headquarters, Islamabad, had prepared a feasibility plan for the replacement of both tubewell pumping machines with electric wires and water supply lines, which had developed cracks and had turned rusty.

Mr Malghani said the plan would be executed within next few days after the funds’ approval.

Published in Dawn, November 14th, 2018