KARACHI, April 10: Various housing societies of the city remained without water for the fourth consecutive day on Wednesday, leaving no choice for the residents of water- starved localities to buy costly private tankers.

The hard-hit societies include Adamjee Nagar’s Kathiawar Housing Society, Shabbirabad, Bahadurabad’s Block 3, Mohammad Ali Housing Society, Bangalore Town, Al-Hamra Society, Dhoraji Colony, Jinnah Society, Delhi Mercantile Society, KDA Scheme-I, Sharafabad, and parts of PECHS Blocks 6, particularly its green- belt area.

Water supply to these societies was suspended about five days back when a 48-inch dia pipeline, passing through the Kidney Hill Reservoir, had started leaking profusely.

Though the KWSB officials on Wednesday claimed that the leakage had been plugged on Tuesday and supply from it to all the affected societies had been restored the same day, residents of a number of societies complained that they have not received a single drop of water even till 7pm on Wednesday.

“It is during the last five days that we spent Rs1,000 on buying two private tankers,” a jittery woman of Bangalore Town said.

Residents of Adamjee Nagar’s Kathiawar Housing Society complained that a lane of their locality was almost without water for the last couple of months.

In a joint letter sent to the KWSB managing director and a copy of which was also faxed to Dawn, five residents of the Kathiawar Society regretted that there had been almost no water in their area for the last couple of months and they had been suffering for no fault of theirs’.

Seeking Karachi Water and Sewerage Board managing director’s intervention into the matter, the perturbed residents urged him to help restore the supply without any further loss of time.

Complaints of persisting water shortage have also been received from the residents of Lyari’s deficit pocket such as Dariabad, Kalakot, Shershah and different sectors of sprawling townships of Orangi and Baldia, Catholic Colony No 2 and Muslimabad.

“It is beyond our comprehension that how our localities off and on go dry whereas the KWSB’s hydrants which are situated within our locality keep on getting the supply in plenty almost throughout the day and night”, residents of Muslimabad remarked.

Similarly, water shortage continues to persist in parts of Malir Khokhrapar.

Residents of the affected areas said they receive water on alternate days and that too with low pressure. Often there is no supply of water.

The tanker service, they said, was also not coming up to their expectations.

They urged the KWSB higher ups to enhance water quota for Malir as there is a water crisis in Sector G, H. and Saudia Colony’s 8-A and B areas.