GUJRANWALA – Only 35 percent people in Pakistan’s 7th largest city have been provided by Gujranwala Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) with clean drinking water while most of them are forced to intake contaminated water owing to out-of-date infrastructure of the water supply system. A survey report revealed that the WASA could only deliver water supply services to 35 percent of the population while only 70 percent of the masses in the city area have the civic amenity of sewerage system. The WASA has 87 tube-wells in the city out of which 21 are not functioning these days while only seven water tanks out of 10 are functioning.
The water supply infrastructure in the city was laid down during the early 70s and rusted a decade before. The WASA laid down new pipelines in comparatively posh areas of the city but corruption marred this move as rejected pipes were used for the supply of clean drinking water. Resultantly, these pipes could not deliver and infiltrations of sewerage water and industrial wastes caused complaints in the city. Laying new supply lines and rehabilitation of old ones cost Rs 180 million to the provincial government and, unfortunately, no government officer bothered to check this scam which is affecting the public health on daily basis.
The provincial government as well as the city district government did not seem serious to sort out fiscal and infrastructural problems faced by the WASA which has been running on ad-hoc basis and often does not pay salaries to the employees. Although it had registered 36,000 water supply and 70 sewerage connections, but lack of infrastructure for recovering bills from these users has also become a major problem. Resultantly, the WASA has been facing a loss of Rs 115 million per annum. A serious effort is needed to rehabilitate this most important agency to ensure public health in the city but myopic approach of the government has left the people in doldrums.
PEOPLE ASKED TO MAKE CITY GREEN: People themselves should come forward to make the city green, clean and peaceful so that the coming generations can lead their lives in a pollution-free atmosphere. Police Deputy Inspector General Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema said this while leading a walk held at GT Road to create awareness among masses for establishing green areas in the city as well as to take care of green belt on either side of the road.
People from all walks of life, including former MPA Abdur Rauf Mughal, District Bar Association President Zaigham Ullah Sansi, Malik Zaheer-ul-Haq, SSP Afzal Mahmood Butt and students from various schools participated in the move. Zulfiqar Ahmad Cheema hailed the services of Gujranwala Thinkers Forum, an NGO for developing the green belt on self-help basis, and urged the citizens to guard it for a better atmosphere in the industrial and over-populated city.
