THE shortage of clean drinking water in Rawalpindi is worsening by the day. Groundwater levels have fallen to alarming depths, and the crisis is visible across the city. Recently, near the Haji Camp, I saw residents lined up in a narrow street with cans and buckets outside a house selling filtered water.

The lane was so cramped that people had to move their containers aside for passing motorcycles — a stark image of the daily struggle for something as basic as safe drinking water.

In many neighbourhoods, residents walk half-a-kilometre to reach private filter plants. Government filtration units observe limited schedules, making access difficult for working people. Clean water, a fundamental human need, has become a matter of timing and privilege.

Unchecked concretisation in areas such as Saddar has worsened the problem. Thick layers of concrete prevent rainwater from seeping into the ground, accelerating groundwater depletion. The city urgently needs recharge wells and open absorption points to allow rain and household drainage water to replenish underground reserves.

Industrial waste, including toxic dis-charge, further contaminates groundwater, posing a silent but serious public health threat. Meanwhile, a tanker mafia has emerged, selling water at arbitrary rates, while government pipeline supply remains unreliable and insufficient.

Unless immediate and practical steps are taken, proper access to clean and safe drinking water in Rawalpindi will soon become not just difficult, but unattainable.

Abdul Wajid
Rawalpindi

Published in Dawn, April 3rd, 2026