Holding On The Lifeline Together!

Asem Mustafa Awan

Islamabad: The two small girls holding the water cane together in one of the posh localities, Lalazar, in Rawalpindi, show many things have deteriorated over decades, namely the services.

The departments providing basic amenities of life for consumers have overgrown in size, and instead of being referred to as ‘white elephants’, they have taken on the size of ‘dinosaurs’, with rampant corruption and no services.

The water bills are sent to people whose connections died years ago. Failing to provide this basic need resulted in people drilling water bores in their homes so that the hassle could be done once and for all.

The locality is in close proximity to Saint Mary’s Lalazar, an institute that has existed for over a century, and prior to the housing schemes, both legal and illegal, the area was considered safe and secure.

The services existed in the form of water, electricity and gas, but with haphazard planning and greasing the palms of city authorities, the services deteriorated. The gas is not there, as in, with full pressure enough to cook a decent meal. Electricity is also in limited supply, with power going out for hours but the bills are sent regularly.

In a way, the departments encourage corruption and there have been video clips showing how tampering is done in meters.

These two girls picking up the cane together show that the water from the government facility is not coming or is not safe to drink.

The ‘tuktuks’ have regular customers and they provide these houses with water as women at home need it for cooking and drinking.

The reports, both national and international, state that over 80 percent of the population is denied clean drinking water and the remaining fortunate ones gulp it down heartily but die of other diseases, unlike the water-borne ones.

Such an apathy from the government towards its ‘lowly subjects’ is witnessed only in the ‘land of the pure’ and when will that promised ‘good time’ come? It is a diminishing dream that dies with each passing day.

Generations have died in pursuit of ‘the dream’ which has remained but a dream!

The writer is a journalist based in Islamabad and writes on a wide range of issues.

Photo Credit: Khurram Butt