By Ayesha Saba ISLAMABAD, May 30, (INP-WealthPK): The Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) has started work on devising a comprehensive strategy to address the issue of water shortage in different cities of Punjab. WASA Assistant Director Abuzar Saeed told WealthPK that the major challenge faced by Pakistan in attaining sustainable development was to ensure that all the people continued to have reliable access to water supply and sanitation services. “It is the mandate of WASA to provide clean drinking water to people to fulfil the demand of all sectors of society. WASA has planned to resolve the issue of water shortage. Tankers will continue to provide water to people in the affected areas,” he said. He said that people were concerned about the severe heatwave that resulted in unexpected power load shedding and water shortage in different areas. “Pakistan is suffering from power shortage due to which WASA has to face electricity outages. It has become difficult to operate heavy machinery to supply water to people and dispose of sewage,” he added. The official said that power load shedding was impacting operations of pumping stations and water could not be stored in tanks. He urged people to cooperate with WASA and use water wisely. WASA has taken several initiatives on the directives of the Punjab government to control the depletion of underground water. Fines were being imposed on people for wasting water by washing ramps and vehicles in the residential, commercial and industrial areas. “WASA has also constructed a rainwater storage tank. Work on two more such tanks is underway in Lahore. These tanks will preserve rainwater that will be utilised for gardening and firefighting services,” said Mr Saeed. He said that WASA implemented a licensing system and imposed aquifer charges on consumers as a first step. “It controlled excessive water pumping by tube wells in the private sector,” he added. The official said that the Punjab government had also signed agreements with Chinese firms for the installation of smart water meters. The installation of smart meters would minimise wastage of water and maintain its quality as people would be cautious about leakage of water and could report it promptly. He added that the project would also control excessive use of underground water and help in maintaining its level. He told WealthPK that the government would extend the smart water metering system to Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and Rawalpindi after checking its effectiveness and usefulness in Lahore.