ith a growing population and rapidly expanding infrastructure, Islamabad is faced with increasing concerns regarding its environmental and water scarcity challenges.

Experts say population growth, climate change, pollution, mismanagement and lack of water conservation are some of the major contributors aggravating the water challenge in the capital.

The city’s underground water is also depleting fast due to various factors (climate change, less rains), especially in the backdrop of no new or other water sources being made available. For the past few decades, Islamabad has had few main sources of water, including the Simly Dam and Khanpur Dam. All the while, the population has been growing.

The United Nations in its resolution on water and sanitation declared the availability of clean and safe drinking water “a fundamental human right.” In cities like Islamabad, this right is becoming exclusive and expensive to access.

“Securing clean and safe drinking water in Islamabad is becoming a distant dream,” says Akhtar Hameed, a resident of the city. “Sectors where CDA supplies water through tankers are spared,” he says “but in other areas, people are forced to spend money to install water filtration units or buy water from market, which is expensive.”

Some residents and civil society members say that uncontrolled borehole drilling and shrinking recharge zones due to rampant construction are major reasons for the drop in water table.

The city has faced water shortage from time to time. This is attributed to administrative and technical issues as many tankers go out of order, cutting the water supply in designated areas.

Water wastage and lack of a conservation policy and planning are contributing to the growing water scarcity challenge in Islamabad. Millions of gallons of water are released from Simly and Rawal Dams through spillways to discharge excess water every year without any mechanism for storage.

Last year, other than Simly Dam, the spillways were opened for a record time due to excessive rains and overflow of Rawal Dam. According to reports, the spillways of Rawal Dam were opened at least 15 times; Simly Dam’s spillways were opened for as many as eight times, spilling around 12,000 million gallons per day from both water storages.

A 2020 Pakistan Institute of Development Economics study declared water availability “a real issue in Islamabad capital territory,” because of over consumption and leakage in the infrastructure. The study also found that on average, an Islamabad resident consumes 195 litres per day.

Last year, a parliamentary committee also highlighted the issue of water scarcity in Islamabad.

The CDA currently provides 70 million gallons per day to Islamabad against the actual need of over 280 million gallons per day.

Residents hope that Islamabad’s water availability situation will improve through sustainable solutions, water conservation, management and government attention.

The writer is a staff reporter. He can be reached at [email protected].