RAWALPINDI: Despite efforts by civic bodies to ensure uninterrupted supply in cantonment areas, consumers are facing an acute shortage of water.

The citizens expressed the fear that the situation will worsen in the summer season as civic bodies of cantonment areas have no effective strategy to cope with the situation.

The residents are also facing the water crisis due to frequent power outages, drastic fall in groundwater level, insufficient treatment plants and absence of modern technology. The situation is unlikely to improve in coming days unless the government comes up with a comprehensive plan.

The demand for water tankers has steadily risen even though it costs between Rs1,700 and Rs2,000. In some cases, it costs Rs2,200, but the consumers have to go for it.

At present, the Rawalpindi city and cantonment areas with a population of 1.6 million require 84 million gallons of water daily (mgd) including 44mgd for city and 40mgd for cantonment areas.

Naveed Raja, a resident of Misrial Road, said that water was being supplied to the area only one time after two days. He said that they had left with no option but to get water through tankers.

Akhter Subhan, a resident of Afshan Colony, said that they had been facing water shortage for the past three days and nobody was willing to pay any attention to solve the problem.

RCB spokesman Qaiser Mehmood was not available to comment on the issue. However, a senior official requesting not to be named said that it was the issue of demand and supply. He said that the demand increased in the summer but there was less supply from Khanpur Dam.

Chaklala Cantonment Board (CCB) elected member Raja Irfan Imtiaz expressed the hope that the coming PML-N-led federal government would resolve the water issue.

He said the PTI government failed to provide any relief to cantonment areas as the residents voted for the PML-N in the local government elections. The PTI government did not release funds for the installation of new tubewells and improvement of supply from the Khanpur Dam, he added.

Published in Dawn, April 11th, 2022