Underground water level in Islamabad, Pindi fast going down Zubair Qureshi Water supply situation to Islamabad and Rawalpindi is worsening with each passing day and if necessary measures are taken it is going to turn into a Karachi-like water crisis in the days to come.
The sources said that the underground water level is depleting due to fewer rains and excessive extraction of underground water by the fast expanding federal capital through tube wells and hand pumps.
In Pindi too, city and Cantt areas both, the civic bodies including RCB and CCB are left with only one month to supply to the city.
Water in Khanpur Dam has dried completely which is the main source of supply.
According to one local official in Pindi, the RCB is trying its best to provide water to its consumers, however, due to shortfall of rains and dry weather water has fallen considerably in dams and fallen beyond the dead level in Khanpur Dam.
“It is a natural calamity.
Owing to the present situation of water crisis persisting, the consumers are advised not to waste even a single drop of water.
On one hand, the civic bodies claim about water shortage, but, on the other hand, the private tanker mafia has sufficient water to supply to the people through tankers.
The residents of different areas suffer most as they had to buy water from the tanker mafia who charged them at their will in the holy month of Ramazan.
Now, the holy month is over yet water level is receding and we are left at the mercy of the water tanker mafia, said Zafar a resident in the Rehman Abad.

A pipeline laid to provide water to the local wildlife in the Aravallis has been damaged.
The objective behind laying the pipeline was to keep animals from straying into residential areas in search of water.
A group of residents from these villages had, in May this year, raised Rs 3 lakh to lay the water pipeline, spanning 2.5 km.
“We are finding it difficult to supply enough water to fill the pits inside the Aravalli forest as the animals have damaged the pipeline in six places.
A proposal to supply water to the forest from an old borewell in Mohammadpur was mooted after several animals were spotted sneaking into residential areas in search of water,” Rafiq Khan, a Mohammadpur resident, said.
They said their teams have been visiting the villages, adjacent to the Aravallis, on alternate days to assess if the pits need filling.
The villagers, meanwhile, said they will pool in funds once again to have the damaged parts of the pipeline repaired.
Rajesh Vats, founder of Keshav Dham, a shrine in Raisina village, said he has plans to lay pipelines in other areas as the population of the wildlife is a lot more than is estimated officially.
Wild animals often sneak into residential areas in search of water.
The only borewell in the village is 10 years old and we often face hurdles when it comes to filling pits for the local wildlife,” Vats said.

RAWALPINDI, (UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News – 24th Jun, 2018 ) :Several parts of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board (RCB) including Afshan Colony, Peoples Colony, Masrial Road, Dhoke Syedan, Bakra Mandi and adjoining areas are facing water scarcity as RCB has sealed 48 water hydrants in different areas of the cantonment limits.
Shortage of water supply in Afshan Colony, Peoples Colony, Masrial Road, Dhoke Syedan and others areas of Rawalpindi Cantonment Board has made lives of the residents miserable.
Haji Iqbal, Abdul Waheed, Tanveer Iqbal and others said the residents are facing great difficulties due to water shortage but the authorities concerned are paying no heed towards the resolution of the issue.
Several complaints have been registered but the water supply situation could not be improved, they added.
They informed that there is no regular water supply for their areas and the Department of Water Supply was playing a role of silent spectator.
The residents said that the authorities have failed to ensure regular supply in accordance with the demand of water, thus the residents are facing hardships to get clean water for drinking and other domestic use.
RCB spokesman, Qaisar Mehmood talking to APP informed that RCB has sealed 48 illegal water hydrants in different areas as the owners installed hydrants without approval of the civic agency and operating on commercial basis.
It is feared that if appropriate measures are not taken the residents of cantt areas would be left with very low-level waterbed after a few years.
The water conservationists have also warned that underground water level is decreasing year by year due to which no more tube wells should be established in the cantonment limits.
On the other hand, the RCB’s operation against water hydrants has further aggravatedthe water shortage problem in cantt areas as now, the private water tanker mafia is chargingdouble rates claiming that the water is being brought from far-flung areas.

Calcutta: The scale of water wastage and the rate at which the groundwater table is depleting are red flags for a future shortage that the city cannot afford to ignore, according to a top government official.
Gupta said large-scale use of underground water for several decades had depleted the table while construction of concrete pavements had reduced the chance of rainwater percolating down to replenish it.
Water meters installed in about 1,000 households in wards 2 to 5 in north Calcutta as part of a pilot project revealed average water consumption to be 600 litres a person each day.
Daily consumption in some households was found to be 800 litres a person.
Per capita daily consumption in Chennai is the lowest at 84 litres.
At the chamber event, Gupta spoke about failure to segregate waste at source as another vexing problem.
By 2035, Calcutta will generate 9,000 metric tonnes of waste daily," he said.
Sources in the CMC said that only seven out of 144 wards currently segregate waste at source as biodegradable and non-biodegradable.
These are wards 33, 47, 64, 103, 110, 115 and 130.
"Residents of all seven wards have been given separate bins to segregate waste," an official said.

Maharashtra and more specifically, Pune has been experiencing severe water shortage over the years.
Depletion of the ground water table and scanty rainfall only adding to the crisis even more.
Gujarat is the highest performer on the Water Index scores for the financial year 16-17, closely followed by Madhya Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh.
With surface water totally contaminated, the stress on groundwater is increasing by the day.
We all must take steps to fight this severe water crisis.” Dhiren Singh, an active citizen says that it is scary to think that within a couple of years, we can be deprived of the most important resource of life.
There are fewer soil surfaces available to absorb water.
Hence the recharging of ground water is hampered.
Current sources are dams, bore-wells.
“We have destroyed other sources.
Yet when it comes to financial security, we diversify portfolios and ensure we never invest all our money in one place.

Wash your clothes, or flush the toilet?
Tourists told to stay away from Indian city of Shimla due to water crisis Read more Public toilets were padlocked; families used disposable cutlery and threw it away; water trucks rolled in offering to fill tanks – at a steep mark-up; and people queued for hours to receive two buckets from a government supply.
An estimated 21 major cities could exhaust their groundwater supplies within two years, government advisors believe.
In the past month, Shimla, in the hills of Himachal Pradesh, has emerged as the frontline of the emergency.
“There is climate change all over India and the world,” says Jai Ram Thakur, the Himachal Pradesh chief minister.
Others say Shimla is an example of how negligence can create a water crisis, one they warn will be repeated in cities and villages across India.
It is a lack of vision’ Hours after he was sworn in as the mayor of Shimla in 2012, Sanjay Chauhan asked to visit the Giri river, one of six major sources of the city’s water supply.
Last year, more than 18 million tourists visited the city.
He compares Shimla to Cape Town, the South African city that narrowly avoided running out of water this year after officials raised warnings and citizens restricted their use.
The water would just go.” Officials in Shimla maintain the crisis was exaggerated.

Sources in the public health engineering department said it will take at least seven days’ time to restore the supply of piped water.
Choudhury.
Khan has directed officials to step up efforts to provide succour to the flood victims.
The deputy commissioner has entrusted three additional deputy commissioners and sub-divisional officer (Sadar) to make assessment of the damages and to submit a report to him.
In a meeting with the managers of 17 tea estates on Tuesday, additional deputy commissioner and chief executive officer of the District Disaster Management Authority E.L. Faihreim requested them to provide drinking water to people and fodder for the livestock affected by the deluge.
It was decided in the meeting that the tea garden management will supply at least 10,000 litres of drinking water through tankers to the affected areas.
The executive engineer of the public health engineering department will direct the rural water supply plants to ensure supply of the required quantity of drinking water to the tea garden authorities till the situation improves.
The tea garden management will have to arrange fodder for the affected livestock and it would be lifted by the district veterinary and animal husbandry office for distribution.
Over two lakh livestock, and poultry have been affected in the floods.
Two persons lost their lives.

Pretoria – The City of Tshwane needs at least R12billion to fix its ageing water infrastructure and deal with the problem of leakages once and for all.
The theme for this year was “The impact of water challenges on regional development and economic growth”.
It was attended by government officials, businesspeople and water experts.
Participants highlighted the role of water in attracting direct foreign investment into regional economies like the metro.
“The capex requirement for the capital city to put its water system where it needs to be – and I am not even looking into the future – is R12bn.
If the Development Bank of Southern Africa is willing to give us R12bn because our balance sheet doesn’t allow us to borrow it, I will be the first at your door.” The city also needed at least R6bn to address its poor electricity infrastructure, he said.
For next year, my department has about R1.5bn to address an R18bn backlog.” Developments in the city were affected by Rand Water’s decision to cap its water supply to metropolitan municipalities in Gauteng for the next 10 years, he said.
“Our short-term issue is predominantly that Rand Water that supplies 70% of our water has capped the supply to the city and all other metros in Gauteng for the next 10 years, until the Lesotho Highland project’s next phase comes online.
“We have a number of projects, where we will more and more utilise our own water resources to supply the city.” The city had expanded its water purification plant in Temba and Hammanskraal by doubling its capacity from its resources, Moss said.
“The localisation is particularly difficult because the southern Africa region is not only a dry area, but in all of the climate change scenarios that we have looked at, even the most optimistic scenarios are saying that we are going to be even drier.” Naidoo said South Africa was the third driest country in the world.

DUSHANBE, Tajikistan: President Mamnoon Hussain on Wednesday said Pakistan was ready to extend all out cooperation to the World in efforts for addressing the challenges of water scarcity.
In his address at the inaugural session of high level International conference on the International Decade for Action “Water for Sustainable Development” 2018-2028 being held in Dushanbe from June 20 to 21, the president called upon the international community to join hands in striving to end poverty, provision of quality healthcare and sustainable development across the globe.
Mamnoon Hussain said in order to tackle the challenges there was a need to promote international cooperation and partnership at higher level in the field of science and modern technology.
President Mamnoon hoped that the deliberations as well as recommendations of Dushanbe Conference on water will go a long way in addressing the challenges of water in the region.
Besides President Emomali Rahmon of Tajikistan, who delivered the inaugural speech in the opening session of conference, it was also addressed by the President of Turkmenistan, Chief Executive of Afghanistan and other heads of the delegations.

In the summer, Cape Town came within weeks of becoming the world’s first major modern city to run out of water.
Only severe water-saving measures have so far averted Day Zero.
New research from C40 Cities and the Global Covenant of Mayors estimates that by 2050, over 650 million urban residents – equivalent to twice the population of the US – will be vulnerable to drought.
The same report, “The Future We Don’t Want – How Climate Change Could Impact the World’s Greatest Cities”, forecasts that extremely high summer temperatures will become the norm for more than 1.6 billion people, pushing to the limit the water supplies that we all rely on.
As mayor of Cape Town, I am committed to facing the challenges of climate change with courage and determination.
By repairing water infrastructure, driving innovation in the way we value and use water, and mobilising communities to ensure our collective water security, we can create resilient, sustainable and liveable cities around the world.
That is why, as a leading member of C40 Cities and the Global Covenant of Mayors, I am committed to bold climate action that benefits all citizens.
Together, we must learn to do more with less, and support citizens to make the most of the resources we have available.
As mayor, I have no greater responsibility than to protect the health, prosperity and welfare of citizens today and for generations to come.
** “The Future We Don’t Want – How Climate Change Could Impact the World’s Greatest Cities” was produced in partnership by C40, Global Covenant of Mayors, the Urban Climate Change Research Network and Acclimatise.