No daily water supply for 11 RCB localities

* Rawalpindi Cantonment Board area faces 6.5 million gallons of shortage per day; 5,000 illegal water connections disconnected

RAWALPINDI: The water shortage in the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) area has taken on an ugly shape as the localities of Dhoke Syedian, Tench Bhatta, People’s Colony, Dhoke Chaudhrian, Kiani Road, Mughalabad, Gowalmandi, Hafizabad, Misrial Road, Allahabad, and Saddar are being supplied water on alternate days.

On the other hand, under its campaign launched to check and disconnect illegal water connections, the RCB has so far disconnected over 5,000 illegal water connections to ease the situation. Additional Cantonment Executive Officer (ACEO) Shakeel Jappa told APP that most of the illegal water connections have been disconnected.

He said the residents have been warned that stern action would be taken with imposition of heavy fines against those who would be found in any such practice in future. Special teams were deployed to check illegal connections, he added.

He said nearly 15 percent water connections in RCB areas were illegal and the residents were given a grace period of three months for the regularisation of their connections. Replying to a question, he said the RCB has enhanced water charges from March. He said that the power tariff had substantially increased and the civic body was facing difficulty in managing the gap between operational cost and income from the water supply service.

Jappa said the RCB receives 7.4 million gallons of water per day from Khanpur Dam and five million gallons from its 53 tube wells against the daily need of 19 million gallons. The RCB has to supply water through water pumps and tube wells also, he added. He said due to heavy electricity load shedding, the generators were also used to supply water to the residents. The additional cost of petrol and diesel had also put extra pressure on the board. He said that the Cantonment Board earned Rs 70 million annually from water charges and spent Rs 120 million for the operation of tube wells and water pumps. There was a gap of Rs 50 million, which could increase in the days to come due to increased electricity tariff. app