10 Apr 2007
Dubai: Families in certain parts of Sharjah, Rolla, who are plagued with acute water shortage, are being forced to take a shower on alternate days.
They said that taps run dry and no notice is given to them warning them of the problem.
The residents said that they depend on drinking water for bathing and ablution purposes. The drinking water is brought from companies for Dh5 each by residents. According to them, there has been no improvement in the water supply despite lodging several complaints with the Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa).
Officials at Sewa were not available for comment when contacted by Gulf News.
Residents said the problem exists even after the restoration of water supply. This is because there is not enough pressure in the pipeline for the building water tanks to be filled.
"Even the companies that supply us with the drinking water do not supply us more than two bottles. The only option left was to fetch water from Ajman where groceries are doing brisk business. They are charging Dh7 to Dh8 for a 5 gallon water bottle which otherwise comes for Dh 5," said Mohammad Khan, a resident of Rolla.
"We are a family of four. We cannot afford to keep buying drinking water every day. My son and I take a shower on alternate days while my wife and daughter shower everyday," he added.
"We are then left with no choice, but to draw water straight from the building overhead tank in buckets. To make it more tedious for us, the building water tank does not get filled completely due to lack of pressure in the pipeline," said Vinayak Kulkarni who lives on Bank Street in Rolla.
Malati, a mother of two young children, said her building has been without water for the past two days. She said: "We called up the building manager. He asked us not to shout at him and that we should take our problem to Sewa. When we called Sewa on Sunday, they gave us a time frame by which the water supply would be restored. First they said the supply would be restored at 12pm. But it did not come. Then they told us it will be done at 3pm but still there was no sign of the tap running," she said.
A few residents in Rolla yesterday told Gulf News that they were even planning to go themselves and meet Sewa officials.
"Water started trickling from yesterday morning but there was no pressure. But we got busy getting our washing done. The laundry was piled up for the past three days. I have two small children. Imagine the problems that we would have faced," said another resident who lives in a building behind Rolla Mall.
Another family were greeted with dry taps during the weekend. With no water supply in their building, the family thought it was only appropriate to spend their weekend on Mamzar Beach.
By Sunita Menon
Gulf News 2007. All rights reserved.
