Water scarcity is a major issue in many areas of Pakistan. Either the area is a desert or rough barren mountains. Neither drinking water nor water for bathing or washing is available. People need to travel miles to get water. In the culture of Pakistan, women are the ones who travel to get the water. With earthen pots on their heads. Water is not available for cooking or drinking. HOPE - An NGO in Pakistan is very much aware of this problem and is striving its best to sort the issue in the areas where water scarcity is an issue.
To combat this problem, HOPE
installs hand pumps in the remote areas. These hand pumps are installed in desert areas
as well as barren mountainous terrain. The hand pumps go down nearly 200 to 250 feet
deep. Before installing the hand pumps, a survey of the area is done to make
sure that the ground water is not hard water but rather drinkable sweet water.
Needs assessment of the area is done and community is taken into confidence. A
community based committee is formed to look after the maintenance of the hand
pump.
The whole process takes around
6-8 weeks. Once the hand pump is installed the people happily use the water not
only for drinking purposes but also bathing, cooking and washing. The women are
spared the ordeal of travelling by foot miles and miles daily to collect the
water. They can utilize this time more profitably. Dr. Mubina Agboatwalla -
A Child Specialist in Karachi, personally supervises the installation
of hand pumps.
HOPE – A Health NGO in
Pakistan, till date has installed 63 hand pumps all over Pakistan
from the mountainous terrain in the north, to the barren plateau of Balochistan
and the deserts of Thar and Cholistan. In some areas, instead of traditional
hand pumps, electric motors are used to pump out the water. There is dire need
for hand pumps all over Pakistan as water shortage becomes more important.
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