RAWALPINDI: The residents of Dhoke Ratta are facing water shortage for the last three days as tubewells in the area developed faults and the Water and Sanitation Agency (Wasa) failed to repair them.

However, a Wasa official said two tubewells in the area were working while the third one had developed a fault which would be repaired in a day or two.

In the narrow streets of the thickly-populated area, people have to face problems as private tankers could not enter the streets. The residents have no other option but to fetch water from adjoining areas for their daily use.

Mohammad Shabbir, a resident of Touheedi Road, said the tubewells had developed faults three days ago but no efforts were being made to repair them.

He said they were getting water from adjoining areas for daily use.

Sajid Mehmood, a resident of Ratta Amral, said the motors of the tubewells had developed faults and the civic agency has yet to repair them.

He said with the start of summer, the government had failed to devise a plan to repair the water motors.

On the other hand, a senior official of Wasa told Dawn that the repair of the motors would take three to four days.

He said the civic agency had suggested to the government to provide additional machines to replace the faulty ones.

“The local members of Punjab Assembly received Rs100 million each and they have recommended installing more tubewells. But we have asked them to only purchase motors as the existing 440 tubewells are more than enough,” he said.

He said the groundwater level in the city was receding fast and it would be difficult to install more tubewells because the existing tubewells were sinking.

“We launched a survey to find a suitable space but found no place to install more tubewells,” he said.

When contacted, Wasa spokesman Umer Farooq said the tubewell in Dhoke Ratta’s Railway Workshop Mohallah had sunk and more pipes would be installed in the well. He said the repair work would take a day or two.

However, he said the three tubewells were interlinked and the water supply would not be affected in the area.

He said the other tubewells located in Chowki Mohallah and Dispensary Mohallah were providing water to the localities without any hindrance.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019