WASA fails to provide water in Quetta as tankers strike enters 9th day
Syed Ali Shah :
QUETTA: Water and Sanitation Authority (WASA) has failed to provide water to citizens as the tankers association’s strike entered its ninth day on Wednesday. Common people remained the worst sufferers of the water tankers association’s strike. “No water in my house”, Sohail Ahmed, a citizen tells Quetta Voice.
Like Sohail, most of the citizens have been facing problems because of the strike. “I called tractor’s driver repeatedly but he refused to provide water”, Mr. Ahmed said.
Balochistan High Court (BHC) had ordered the administration to impose a ban on water tractors and directed the owners to turn their tractors into Mazda trucks. A division bench of the court had passed this order in the aftermath of repeated accidents and traffic issues in the city. December 31st is fixed as the deadline for turning tractors into Mazda trucks.
Reckless driving by tractor drivers claimed scores of precious lives
Reckless driving by tractor drivers has claimed scores of precious human lives. A young tractor driver had no license when asked by this reporter earlier in the day in Quetta’s Western Bypass area. The system has failed to check rampant road accidents in general and incidents because of tractors in special.
WASA operates around 400 tube wells in Quetta city
WASA and Public Health Engineering Department have badly failed to provide water to the citizens of Quetta during the strike. WASA operates around 400 tube wells in Quetta city. However, around 50 tube wells are not functional because of various reasons.
There is a deficit of 3,20,00,00,00 water gallons in Quetta daily
Despite repeated attempts, this scribe was not able to speak to the WASA or PHE officials to get their point of view. “This city needs daily 6,00,00,000 gallons of water on a daily basis”, Barakat Khan Kakar, a water expert told Quetta Voice. He said WASA has the capacity to provide 2,80,00000 gallons to Quetta city daily. It means the tractors meet the remaining deficit and provide water to the citizens, Mr. Kakar mentioned.
The Balochistan government has started work on the Mangi dam to meet growing water demand. However, Mr. Kakar informed that would improve the situation but the dam would not completely address the water scarcity issue in the provincial capital.
