November 7, 2003	Friday	Ramazan 11, 1424

KARACHI, Nov 6: The KWSB hydrant, situated behind the Civic Centre, created havoc in the nearby vicinity early Thursday morning as water from the hydrant started entering several adjacent apartment buildings.

It inundated shops and apartments on the ground floor, and rendered over two dozen cars stranded.

Water from the Low Supply Reservoir (LSR) Hydrant also flooded the compound of the Gulshan Public School in Block 14.

Incensed by the mess, the area people took to streets and put two water tankers to fire. The tankers were, however, saved by the fire staff.

The tanker service from the hydrant came to a standstill following the incident. About 2,000 tankers fetch water daily from the KWSB hydrant, which is currently being managed by the rangers.

As water from the hydrant hit a wall segregating the hydrant with the UK apartments (Phase-II) with pressure, it it first broke the wall, marooned almost all the stationary cars in the building’s parking lot, entered some ground-floor apartments nearby, and started accumulating on main University Road in front of Old Sabzimandi.

As water gushing out from the hydrant, having a capacity of 10 million gallons, broke the walls of the UK Apartments (Phase- II) with a big bang, the residents who were fast asleep were caught unawares.

They got panicky and upon seeing that waist-deep water had entered their building, they came out of their homes to take some safety measures.

Witnesses said a number of the cars parked underneath the elevated blocks of their apartment building even started floating owing to waist-deep water which was speedily entering their apartment building through the broken wall.

“Thank God water from the hydrant started gushing out at 1.15 am on Thursday. Had it overflowed in the day, a number of children who often play in the compound wall, would have been swept away by water,” said S. Ishrat Hussain, an area resident.

Residents said although frequent movement of tankers had ruined a number of busy roads and streets of Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block 14, particularly those situated near the Mashrique Shopping Centre and on either side of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Town Administration, all their efforts to get the hydrant shifted to some other place have, so far, gone in vain.

“Whenever we approach the nazims of Gulshan Town and the union council concerned with a request to bring the tankers movement to a halt, the Nazims often sarcastically remark that since your area belongs to the Muttahida, the area people should contact the MQM men for the redressal of their grievances,” said a perturbed resident of the UK Apartment.

“What is the justification of a hydrant in a residential area when people of the same locality remain deprived of water for weeks together, an elderly resident said, adding they had been purchasing water tanker from the same hydrant for Rs 500.

Other residents of the affected locality regretted that despite the fact that water from the hydrant had caused damage to their belongings and property, neither any senior official of the city government, nor of the KWSB thought it appropriate to visit their locality.