Guess who's coming to shower?

Nasr City residents suffered a water cut-off over most of last week. Jailan Halawi plunges into their plight

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Over the past week, Nasr City's two million residents suffered from an almost round-the-clock cut- off of their water supply. The water problem has affected every social stratum in the relatively new district, bringing to peak recurring water woes residents have been complaining about for years.

The water was first cut off last Thursday night. On Friday, at night, it came back in some areas for just a few hours. There was a complete drought on Saturday and Sunday that only broke briefly with Monday's dawn. From 6.45am -- 8.45am in some of the district's posher areas -- the water came back for a while then disappeared just as quickly; if, for some reason, you happened to be asleep at the time, tough luck.

Only on the fourth day of the cut-off did it begin to look like anything was going to be done about the problem. Nasr City MP Mostafa El-Sallab brought the matter up in an urgent request before the People's Assembly, calling his district's incessant water dilemma "cruel and unfair". He urged the government to take serious, well-planned action instead of blaming the problem -- as usual -- on construction violations.

In fact, there was little in the way of an official explanation for the crisis. Residents who called the emergency hotline for Nasr City water utility were not surprised when operators there told them, "We don't know what's wrong, and God willing the water will be back soon." Some operators merely chuckled and said they had been told nothing.

One day it was reported that "misbehaving individuals" who were seeking to obtain sand (for an unclear purpose) broke Nasr City's main water pipe as they dug underneath it. Another explanation centered on construction violations -- that those who had built unlicensed extra floors on their buildings had overworked the water supply.

All the excuses were unconvincing for Nasr City residents who asked where officials had been while the extra stories were being built, and why no one had acted at the time to stop it.

Nasr City residents recalled that in 1995 President Hosni Mubarak threatened recourse to armed force in response to then Sudanese Parliament Speaker Hassan Al-Turabi's threats to reduce Egypt's share of the Nile. On another occasion, former Minister of Defense Field-Marshall Abu Ghazala warned that tampering with the course of the Nile in a manner that would curtail Egypt's water supply is tantamount to a declaration of war. Many a resident, therefore, wondered how a country willing to go to war to protect its quota of Nile water could have failed to provide enough security to protect a main water pipe?

MP Sallab said that innocent residents were the ones paying the price, and should not be punished for others' mistakes. In response, Housing Minister Ibrahim Suleiman vowed to take drastic measures, and promised that life in Nasr City would be back to normal by Monday.

Monday came and went but the water didn't. By the early hours of Tuesday morning, some of the busier Nasr City main streets packed with malls, restaurants, cinemas and sporting clubs were beginning to get their water back. As Al-Ahram Weekly went to print, other areas in the district were getting water, but there were still places where the service had not returned.

It was the first time in the 20 years since the suburb blossomed that the water had been cut off for so long.

The lack of information gave birth to a plethora of theories. Some blamed the huge, newly established City Stars mall and adjacent Intercontinental Hotel. Residents believe the gigantic buildings "swallowed" their share of water.

There were those lucky enough to have a relative or close friend they could visit for water supply or a soothing shower. Other found themselves stretching their budget by buying bottled water to meet their drinking and cooking needs. It was not unusual to see people walking the Nasr City streets with buckets in their hands looking for buildings or shops that might supply them with water.

Although having the water cut off is not unusual in Egypt in general, it has become one of Nasr City's worst problems; since there had been cut- offs before, some residents had enough water stored in bottles or rooftop tanks to use in case of the usual day or so cut-off. By the second day, they were just as desperate as everyone else.

Nasr City's original water network was designed to serve 100,000 residents, officials who spoke to Al-Ahram Weekly on condition of anonymity said. And while the residents and buildings in the district have rapidly surpassed that number, the basic services have remained the same. The water system has not had a comprehensive upgrade since its original establishment 20 years ago.

One resident said, "It's normal now for my friends to call and invite me to come over for a shower, as if they were inviting me to lunch or a drink." Turning more serious, he said it was "about time the government seriously addresses this crucial issue. Where are the analysis, diagnosis and strategies? Where is plan B so we don't need to walk around in the 21st century with buckets and pitchers in our hands to get our daily basic water needs?"

"The right to water is the right to life," Mrs Suzanne Mubarak once said, adding that "the basic ethical rules that govern water rights are the same as those that govern human rights -- they both depend primarily on duties and responsibilities." But, what happens when the violation of Egyptians' right to that indispensable source of life comes from within and how far are officials in the field prepared to go before any real solutions are devised?