ISLAMABAD - The paucity of water amidst prolonged spell of intense heat is creating further trouble for the residents of the Capital, with the authorities concerned giving a cold shoulder to the core issues of masses. The residents of Islamabad have been made to land in hot waters owing to mismanagement of the present government followed by manhandling of administrative issues that resulted in massive inflation, price hikes, lawlessness, unemployment and destruction of civic fibre. For them, water scarcity is just another addition to the list of their sufferings. TheNation witnessed that the sectors of I-8, I-9, I-10, F-6, F-7, F-8 and all the sectors of G series are facing acute water shortage. The residents of these sectors have reported that Capital Development Authority (CDA) turns down the water supply after every few days, thus leaving the helpless residents to bear with the situation. "Water consumption is maximum in such intense heat, but stoppage of water supply for several hours and even for days puts us in deep trouble", said Ishrat Naveed, resident of I-8. Currently, CDA is providing water tankers to facilitate people to address the problem of water breakdowns. However, the entire process of calling a tanker is so irksome and complicated that it takes days for people to wait for their turn to get water through tankers. TheNation learnt that the so-called modernised procedure to register water-related complaints as prescribed by the CDA, is so complex and difficult that majority of illiterate people are unaware to make any head or tail of it. Majority of women and housewives who have to take care of all the household chores find it extremely difficult to register their complaints on the CDA help lines. "The ladies like me who are simpleton and less educated are entirely alien to the complicated methods of lodging a complaint by computerized means. There should be landline numbers where one should simply lodge his complaint without being troubled by computer voices and multiple options", said Mrs Khizar a resident of G-8. Besides, it is observed that the operators on help lines tell people to dial CDA inquiry numbers to lodge their complaints. "It's only when we dial the specified numbers, we get to know that these numbers are either changed or no one attends the call. The operators at CDA inquiries remain sleeping and often we are asked to dial some other number", said Former Joint Secretary, Iqbal Ilyas, while criticising the inefficiency of CDA's personnel to provide services in time. "We have to give frequent reminders to the sleeping CDA authorities to get water tanks at our homes," he added. Also, the residents have reported that they contact help lines to register their complaints, only to be told that they have to wait for water tankers due to heavy bulk of complainants. "We are asked to wait not for hours but for days to get water tanks at our homes, I don't know where should we go", said Aslam Tariq from G-10. Authentic sources have alleged that some officials of water department of CDA are involved in selling water. The sources mentioned that lesser quantity of water is supplied to the homes by water department of CDA due to the reason that some officials in this department save maximum quantity of water to sell it. "They save water, not because they have limited water to supply, but because they have to sell it to make money", said a former official of water department wishing anonymity. The masses of the Capital have also registered their annoyance over the fact that the water being supplied to them by tankers does not meet their needs. The CDA officials have maintained that one third of the total water of a tanker is provided to every home but ground realities revealed that the quantity of water being provided to people is much lesser than the prescribed amount. Some citizens told this scribe that they had to pay extra money to the water authorities to get water tanks in time. "Officially they charge Rs 30 for per filling, but if you offer Rs. 200 to Rs. 500 to the driver and his colleagues, they are ready to provide you the entire tanker", said a former army officer living in F-7. He further informed that these low rank officials of CDA urge the people to contact them on their cellular phones instead of calling on help lines to get maximum quantity of water in time. "The privileged people can offer money to get water, but poor underprivileged ones have no other option then to live with their fate", he added In addition, people have lamented that CDA takes no time to send them quarterly bills for water consumption, but disrupts the water supply after every couple of days. Thirty rupees per filling is extra amount charged by the CDA, besides quarterly bills. "Why we have to pay full water charges through bills along with the tanker charges when we don't get even half of the water quarterly", asked the citizens. The CDA officials when contacted harped on their same tunes of the past that new lines are being laid which blocks water supply to people and limited water tankers with greater demand of supply results in unusual delays in providing water. As per their routine practice, they portrayed an exaggerated picture of their efficiency and commitment while denying all the charges of water selling and corruption. "These are all false charges, we are committed to provide services without corruption", said a CDA official who always remains determined to forward excellent reports of his high performance to his bosses.