Madinah's water crisis worsens

A number of districts in Madinah are witnessing an acute water shortages and local residents are leading increasing calls for authorities to end the crisis. Residents are being forced to form long queues at the water distribution point in Qiba district with the hope of buying a water tank. Talking to Arab News, Obaidullah Al-Sihaimi, a Saudi, said he arrived early in the morning at the pumping station and took his place in the already long queue, but when he reached the employee who was giving numbers to the customers to purchase water tanks, he was told to come again the next day. "There is complete chaos when numbers are distributed. The entire operation has gone out of hand. Why did I have to stand under the soaring heat for long hours only to be told to come back the next day?" he asked. Al-Sihaimi asked officials at the Directorate General of Water (DGW) to solve the water crisis and end the suffering of the residents. Khaled Al-Matrafi, another Saudi citizen, said he was living in the eastern Al-Harrah district that has been without water for many days. He claimed the price of a large water tank is now SR350 from SR160. Medium size tanks were being sold at SR200 from SR90 while the price of the smaller ones had gone up from SR60 to SR120. He said these were the prices offered by the brokers who sold tickets outside the DGW’s distribution station. He said prices for smaller tanks were usually fixed at between SR60 and SR70 but queues were long and there was always the possibility that after waiting for long hours those queuing might be told that there were no tickets and to come again the next day. Muhammad Al-Arwi urged authorities to stop the practices of brokers who exploited the situation and raised prices to extortionate levels. "We are now at the beginning of summer. What will the situation be when we enter the middle of the season and the demand for water increases?" he asked. Abdullah Musa said congestion at the distribution point drove people to purchase water tanks from the brokers at exceptionally high prices. The districts with no water supply include, among others, Al-Masanie, Al-Sahman, Al-Naser, Al-Hijra and the eastern Al-Harrah.