NAROWAL, July 3: Shortage of potable water in Narowal city has made people’s lives miserable. Hundreds of people have to daily queue up for hours at a time to get drinking water from the processing plants installed at four different points in the city.

The underground water-supply system of the city, which was set up in 1963, has not been working for a long time. The public has time and again complained that the drinking water being supplied to the city by the Tehsil Municipal Authority through underground pipes is contaminated.

A number of people have complained that they are suffering from various diseases because of contaminated water consumption. A few years ago, only two of the eight water samples taken from various places in the city were found out to be fit for drinking.

The citizens have been demanding replacement of the worn-out water-supply system for long, but the officials concerned have yet to take any step to meet their demand.

Narowal Tehsil Nazim Khwaja Wasim Butt got four water processing plants installed in the city two years ago at a cost of Rs2.5 million. These plants are located on Ganj Husainabad, Zafarwal Road, Kutchery Road and Parana Committee Ghar Chowk.

The plants, which hardly fulfil the need of 72,000 people in the city, supply water in three short shifts - three hours in the morning, two hours at noon and three hours in the evening.

TMA SDO Muhammad Saleem told Dawn that the present water-supply system was insufficient for the city’s population. The municipal authority’s tubewell also was not working to its capacity, thus reducing the water pressure in the pipes.

When contacted, Tehsil Municipal Officer Muhammad Zahid Ghauri said the TMA had no funds to replace the system. He also blamed the people for not cooperating and avoiding water rate payment. He said people owed Rs8 million to the TMA. However, he said, it would install more plants in the city during the current fiscal. For the time being, it would increase duration of daily water supply.