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Building tenants hit by shortage of water

SHARJAH — Tenants of a building in Al Nahda, Sharjah have been allegedly facing water shortage for three days, forcing them to buy water from groceries or carry buckets of water to their apartments.

The building 'Sheba' which is located near the KFC roundabout has 170 apartments and 20 shops.

Ms Abdul Rahman, a resident, told Khaleej Times: "We have been facing a water crisis for the past three days. We were not given any advance notice about the problem." She added that water supply was restored yesterday, but it came only in trickles.

She said when she asked the watchman about the problem, he knew nothing, and couldn't communicate with the tenants as he spoke only Malayalam.

"We cannot flush our toilets, and we have to carry water containers and buckets downstairs to buy water from the groceries, where we are charged exorbitant rates because they know we are in a helpless situation," she said.

The watchman of the building said there was a defect in the water pumping motors and the pipes. When contacted, an employee of the real estate company responsible for the maintenance of the building confirmed that there was a defect in the water pump and pipelines. "We are working on it to fix the problem as soon as passible," the employee said.

S.G., another resident gave details while carrying two large cans of water: "What if one of the apartments catches fire? The landlord is providing us with tank water, but it is not enough for us. I hope the Sharjah Municipality and Federal Electricity and Water Authority (Fewa) understand the gravity of the situation."

Officials from Sharjah Electricity and Water Authority (Sewa), however, made it clear that Sewa was not responsible for the mess.

"The landlord should repair the motor pump. However, Sewa will send it's engineers to investigate the problem," an official said.

The landlord has been providing the tenants with three water tankers which costs Dh2,000 every day. He has assured that the problem would be fixed soon.

"Residents will soon have water in the building. It’s a temporary problem which developed suddenly, giving us no scope to inform the tenants in advance," he said.

Sandhya, a maid who works for one of the families in the building, said: "I have been carrying large cans of water for the entire family for three consecutive days. The family members are eating out most of the time. The watchman and the landlord did not inform people about the problem. We get water from this tank, but it is difficult to wash clothes and dishes. We don’t have enough water to take a bath or even brush our teeth."

According to M.K., it has been a perennial problem. "I wonder how others who have children are managing with this water shortage," he said.

The tenants said the landlord’s office management was using the fire hose to supply tenants with water from a tank in the terrace meant for fire emergency without consulting the civil defence. This is considered illegal and is in violation of the safety regulations set by the municipality and civil defence.

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