The Capital Development Authority (CDA) has blamed load-shedding for the delay in water supply to the residents, however Pakistan Today has learnt that the civic body has been negligent in the repair of water tankers, a great number of which are out of order now, resulting in slow waters supply through tankers.
The water supply directorate and finance wing have paid no heed to the required repair work of the water tankers, causing a loss of millions of rupees to CDA, which is now mulling to sell its precious property to overcome the financial crisis. According to some CDA officials, besides trying to open new doors for earning revenue, the authority should also think about the assets which have been shoved away in the garages. In the CDA office situated in sector G/10, about 13 water tankers have been standing dysfunctional and some have also been standing at the CDA Machinery Pool Organisation (MPO).
“The price of each tanker is in millions but they are now out of order because the finance wing did not release funds for their repair and in addition, the water supply directorate high-ups also seem reluctant to put pressure for release of funds in order to repair the out of order water tankers or to buy new ones,” said a senior CDA official, seeking anonymity. He said that the CDA officials were aware of the problems being caused to the people, yet they were not improving the situation.
After taking charge, New CDA Chairman Engineer Farkhand Iqbal had acknowledged the presence of corruption in the organisation, promising to wipe out the corrupt elements and putting the authority’s business on track, the CDA official said, adding that the chairman should also take notice of the large number of water tankers standing and the authorities’ negligence in this regard.
He said that the CDA had also decided to auction the out of order water tankers to buy new ones because it was more expensive to repair these tankers than to purchase new ones. He pointed out that timely repair was necessary for keeping the tankers in operation, adding that the average life of the water tankers was 10 years and a majority of them were past their prime. He said that the condition of tankers currently in use was also very poor, therefore the authorities needed to look into the matter urgently to prevent further loss to CDA.
He said that the laxity shown by the civic body was also a cause of inconvenience to the residents of Islamabad, particularly in G and I sectors, which have been facing an acute water shortage for several months and have no choice but to seek help from these tankers and sole reliance on the water tankers often means prolonged waits for water supply.
The CDA water tankers with leaking pipes were also causing a huge loss of water and mocking the authority’s slogan for water preservation.
Pakistan Today learnt that hundreds of people wait for the tankers to fill water each morning as early as 4am and register their complaints at the CDA’s desk set up in the office, while several others lodge their complaints over telephone. However, no relief has been granted to the residents so far.
“We have to face many problems due to the poor service of water suppliers and leaked pipes of most of the tankers,” said Mustafa Qureshi, a resident of G/10-4. The residents said that the CDA’s water tanker service was inefficient. “One would be lucky if the tanker arrived by late evening,” said Amjad, a resident of I/10 Sector.
“Most of the CDA water tankers are in poor condition with their worn out pipes that not only fill the water tanks of the residents but also wash their homes. The water gushing out from several points of pipes looks like a fountain, which waters everything that comes in the way to the water tank,” said Hamid Agha, a citizen.
The Water Supply director was unavailable to comment on the issue.
