KARACHI, Nov 19: The city’s water supply position further aggravated as a 33-inch dia pipeline on University Road, near Ghazi Rangers Headquarters burst on Tuesday.

The localities which were affected due to the rupture included KDA Scheme-33, parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.

People residing in the vicinity of Scheme-33 said that the pipeline had burst at three different places and the spillage from it submerged the nearby section of the University Road as well as several adjoining streets, causing inconvenience to pedestrians and commuters.

They pointed out that water started gushing out of the broken pipeline in a considerably high pressure on Tuesday as the concerned KWSB officials did

not take action promptly on the mild flow from the leakages for two days before.

Had the leakages been plugged in time, the pipeline would not have ruptured at three places, they opined.

Meanwhile, private water tankers continued to do a roaring business in various water-starved localities as the water supply in most of the hard-hit areas of the metropolis remained suspended on Tuesday. The supply situation had started deteriorating following the introduction of water-holiday system for the localities hooked to the Indus source.

Acute water shortage persisted in different parts of the city and some of these localities included several blocks of the Federal B Area, different sectors of Orangi, Baldia, North Karachi, Surjani, parts of Keamari, Bhutta Village, Trans Lyari, Hijrat Colony and Sultanabad.

Residents of the affected blocks of Federal B Area complained that contrary to the KWSB claim of pursuing one-day (Monday) water holiday in their areas, they were not receiving water for three days in a week.

The other localities which went without water on Tuesday as part of the KWSB plan of diverting Indus water to the localities hooked to the Hub source included Clifton, Gizri, Delhi Colony, Punjab Colony, Shireen Jinnah Colony, Bhutta Village, Naval Dockyard, NORE-1 and GE Army installation.

Water supply to the city’s major hospitals, such as Jinnah Post-graduate Medical Centre, National Institute of Child Health and National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, also remained suspended on Tuesday.

The localities which would go dry on Wednesday include Old City Area, Garden East, Garden West, Soldier Bazaar, Saddar, Shikarpur Colony, Cosmopolitan Society and parts of Lyari.