Heat Wave in Islamabad & Water Shortage

CDA water plants

Its hot in summers! Everybody knows and there is nothing new about it but when you have to face these boiling temperatures then it becomes a news. It was quite hot on saturday making it difficult for people to go outdoors. The markets and roads wore a deserted look. Power crisis is not making our lives any easier in this scorching heat. Even if we stay indoors and there is no electricity then we have only one thing which can give some relief and that is lots of cold water.

You know what? We have acute shortage of water in Islamabad and in F-8 sector in particular. The underground water table has gone down and our water motors have become useless. The other source of supply is CDA. Our dear CDA is so busy in beautifying the city that they have forgotten the more essential things like water supply. We are not getting the usual supply for months now after numerous complaints, calls and applications….we have given up on them.

You must be thinking how are we surviving without water if we have no underground water and no water supply from CDA. Kuch paaney ke liye kuch khona perta hai, for getting water we have to get up at 6 am and start dialing the CDA helpline number which gets through after almost an hour of continous effort. They give us a number and we atart waiting for the water tanker to come. I should have taken a picture of their pipe which is full of holes and when they give us those 3 minutes(1/5th of tanker) of water, most of it is showered out of these small holes in the pipes. Anyway this whole effort results in getting us water for our daily use and its worth Rs 35 only. If you are ready for the ordeal then their number is 2096068.

On an unlucky day when CDA tanker doesn’t come you have to call for a private tanker. They are charging different prices for the whole tanker. Ranging from Rs 500 to 1500. Water is precious!!!

Even private tankers do not operate on sundays so we are left with our last option. Try to get some water for cooking and drinking at least. Thankfully CDA has these “Drinking water filteration plants” in various sectors. (like the one you can see in the picture above). The deserted look of the above filteration plant is deceiving because it was non-operational at that time. Imagine long queues of cars, people and water cans….yes, thats the real picture.

Those of you who can afford air conditioners and have supply of water….enjoy summers and count your blessings.