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Wednesday August 21, 2024

Leaking pipeline causing water shortage in G-8/1

By Our Correspondent
April 18, 2020

Islamabad : The water pipeline that supplies water from tube-well No 210 to Sector G-8/1 near a nullah behind Islamabad Model School No 2 has been damaged for three years causing extensive water leakage and shortage in the area.

Experts advice the regular washing of hands to prevent coronavirus but the residents of G-8/1 have found themselves particularly vulnerable to the pandemic due to the shortage of water.

They are left with no option but to rely on water bowser to meet needs.

The residents claimed that the matter had been brought to the attention of the CDA authorities many times.

Abid Mehmood said leakage in water pipelines was alarming as it wasted thousands of litres of nature’s gift every day.

“How do people wash hands, clean them during corona virus crisis if there is no water at homes? There is not sufficient water available to meet basic needs like drinking, cooking, personal washing, washing clothes, cleaning home, sanitation and waste and meeting other physiological needs. We lodged numerous complaints to CDA authorities but none have bothered to resolve the issue.”

Another resident Karamatullah said, “It is very painful to see the water being wasted on road due to leaking water pipeline. On the other hand we are suffering from an acute shortage of water.

"A limited water supply for 1-2 hours a day with a slow flow is given to the area which is insufficient to meet our daily hygienic need during corona virus crisis. How can we wash our hands with water and soap for at least 20 seconds? Having soap is useless if there's not enough water to wash with it," he said.

The CDA is putting G-8 residents at worse risk in the coronavirus crisis by not repairing the pipeline, he complained.

“Three years have passed since the water pipeline near Islamabad Model School No 2 burst open, which led to a loss of wastage of thousands of litres of water, but the authorities have not repaired the ruptured pipeline yet and the water gushes out for hours. We are worried about the amount of water that goes to waste while we are suffering from water shortages. Imagine how many litres of water are going to waste each day. We do not want the water to get wasted so the leakage of water pipeline has been reported to CDA water officials, but the problem has not been provided with a permanent solution,” said resident Ghulam Haider.

Noorur Rehman said, “We don’t even have enough water to wash up for prayer, wash cloths or wash kitchen dishes. The water pipe has been leaking for the past three years at the area and nothing has been done to fix it.”

The residents of G-8/1 appealed to the prime minister to take immediate notice of the broken water pipeline to save water, the basic need of humans.