Nipping the Evil in The Bud
By Engr Noman Ali
Apropos ‘Air of Nonchalance’ Pamirtimes dated 2018 August 24, it is quite strange that the concerned authorities have all along been demonstrating a great insensitivity and utter nonchalance in the matter of resolving the festering water supply issue despite passage of a considerable time which is, indeed, a question mark.
As is being divulged by the dwellers of the cluster of houses in the vicinity of Sehhat Foundation Hospital Danyore, they are made subject to interminable woes resulting from an unabated discrimination by WASA officials of the area for a long time insofar as adequate supply of piped water during the scheduled 4-hour supply each morning is concerned. This obviously bespeaks gross insensitivity and apparent nonchalance being constantly demonstrated by the officials in the matter of equitable supply of the available drinking water to the residents of the twin-mohellahs (Shabikeehet and those in the vicinity of Sehhat Foundation) hospital. It has become the wont of the respective authorities with a serpent-like mentality, seldom turn fully ‘on’ what they call the regulatory valve even for a single hour let alone the 4-hour scheduled supply a day. In consequence thereof, the partial flow which literally makes a mere fraction of the maximal capacity of the main supply line, seldom caters to the needs of even a very few who may luckily have advantageous connections while rest are virtually desperate to slake their thirst, excoriate Sakhawat Shah, Ali Rehmat, Shiraz, Athar Hussain and Fida Hussain representing the dwellers of the water-scarce locality.
They painfully point out in furtherance that the situation is exacerbating day by day with the WASA paying no heeds in the context of resolving the festering problem. This lackadaisical approach of the concerned authorities has led to an infernal state. Quite interestingly, there is no WASA complaint office either as the one that existed until a year-and-a-half ago at Danyore polo ground was demolished. Thus the WASA officials nominally manning the office with a symbolic register for lodging complaints connected with water supply to households, no longer exists with the staff having gone wholly unanchored and mobile since then. It is ironical that there is no one to take cognizance of the great remissness whimsically exhibited by the WASA officials who remain busy with ensuring unhindered piped supply to commercial units (barber saloons, high-rise buildings, block-manufacturers, etc.) alone to the detriment of the households of the locality.
It is to be recalled that this, at long last, had triggered a protest by women and children of the locality about a year ago which ended peacefully upon the intervention of tehsildar of the sub-divisional administration who promptly paid a visit to the spot, took sock of the situation and unequivocally ensured that the problem would be resolved instantly in collaboration with the respective officials of both WASA and B&R. This as stated by the residents of the locality, was then followed by a meeting at tehsil office Danyore the same day with the elders of the mohellah in which the WASA people, first going untraced earlier in the day on their respective cell phones, lastly became available to participate late at noon. However, the WASA officials as it is informed, unequivocally promised to fix all issues concerning equitable supply of water to the locality in order to mitigate the sad plight of the dwellers. The WASA officials manning the regulatory valve were then directed to turn it on to full capacity of the pipeline to ensure an equitable supply as per schedule every day. It has come to the fore that this discriminatory supply of scant and insufficient potable water or its disruption becomes straightaway ascribable to the whimsical regulatory ploys employed by WASA officials on duty who are always to be found reluctant to turn the valve on to the capacity of the main pipeline. In short, the WASA people here have multiple ruses all the time in a bid to divert piped water towards commercial units as afore-said by way of the ceaseless mischief-mongering.
The people of the locality wistfully refer to how WASA turned the regulatory valve ‘on’ the day when the tehsildar visited the spot in the aftermath of agitation referred to in the above a year ago and how the main line carrying full water sufficed the needs of the household of the mohellah on that occasion. This debunked the diabolical tactics of WASA who deliberately create such situations with a view to ensure uninterrupted supply to the ‘commercial units’ for obvious reasons – something needing to be nipped in the bud. Equally surprising is the fact that the officials above in the hierarchy above always turn a deaf ear to this grave situation where poor people are constrained to seek tinkered-water supply – something beyond the reach of the poor. It is high time that the machinations referred to in the above are got undone to alleviate the sufferings of the poor residents in the interest of justice and fair play. Last but not least is to make a mention to the effect that the respective officials are quite incitefully forcing the poor residents to embark on ceaseless protests and unabated agitations in utter desperations in the circumstances narrated above not knowing that they are wholly to be held accountable in such an eventuality. Let sense prevail and the evil nipped in the bud. The sooner it is done, the better it will be!
The writer is a software engineer belongs to Gilgit-Baltistan. He can be reached at floppy6663@gmail.com
