07 January 2004	Wednesday	14 Ziqa'ad 1424

KARACHI, Jan 6: A 33-inch dia major pipeline burst on Tuesday near Government Abdullah College, causing extensive damage to North Nazimabad's recently-built Shahrah-i-Chisti , besides bringing a halt to water supply to a number of localities hooked to it.

The localities which went without water on Tuesday in the wake of pipeline burst, included Paposh Nagar, Allama Iqbal Town, Hussain D' Silva Town, Banaras, Qasba, Aligarh Colony and its adjoining areas.

Eye witnesses told Dawn that as soon as the pipeline burst, water spread on Shahrah-i-Chisti and nearby streets, creating hindrance in the smooth flow of traffic.

North Nazimabad Town Naib Nazim Maqsood Khan deplored that although the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board officials, including both the superintending engineers (water trunk Main and water supply wings) and the executive engineer concerned had been informed about a week back that a major pipeline, passing through the Abdullah Government Girls College, near Makhzanul Uloom mosque, had been leaking, but none of the officials took any measures for plugging the leakages in the initial stages, and as such their negligence ultimately resulted in the burst on Tuesday.

The damaged pipeline, on the one hand, disrupted the water supply to the localities hooked to it, and on the other, caused extensive damage to the newly-built road, he said.

"Isn't it an irony that the Shahrah-i-Chisti, which was constructed after 17 years, had developed potholes and craters owing to the leaking pipeline since last one week, which ultimately got burst on Tuesday," the Naib Nazim regretted, saying that "we have now told the KWSB that any road damaged due to pipelines leakage and burst, will be responsibility of the KWSB, which will re-build it at its own expenses."

Accusing the KWSB officials concerned of ignoring the complaints lodged by the Town Municipal Administration, with regard to the pipeline leakages, he said had the KWSB officials repaired the pipeline in earlier stages of its leakages, neither the localities hooked to it, nor the newly-built road, would have been affected.

He said that besides the Shahrah-i-Chisti, a number of streets in the Buffer Zone's five sectors (from sectors 15-A/1 to 15-A/5) often remained inundated because of unscheduled water supply in the most of Buffer Zone localities.