KARACHI: 4th water main burst in 2 weeks hits Baldia
By Nizamuddin Siddiqui
KARACHI, Jan 14: A 48-inch-diameter pipeline burst in Orangi Town on Tuesday night. And on Wednesday a pipeline near Nagan Chowrangi sprung a leak. These were the fourth and fifth incident, respectively, during the last 14 days in the city which involved a burst pipeline.
All these incidents left roads inundated and large tracts of land submerged.
Due to the breach in the pipeline in Orangi, supply of water to Baldia Township was affected, according to sources. And because of the leakage near Nagan Chowrangi, water supply to nearby areas was affected.
When contacted, Karachi Nazim Naimatullah Khan told Dawn that he too was worried about the increased frequency with which the major pipelines of the city were getting damaged. "I put this question to the EDO concerned only yesterday. And I was told by him that it was because the engineers have largely failed to normalize the pressure in the pipelines that these are bursting," he said. Mr Khan added that almost all the pipelines in the city were old and needed to be replaced.
"Most of these pipelines are 40 years old. Also keep in mind that we have a better water supply situation this year, which means increased pressure in the pipelines. More pressure, coupled with old and weak pipelines, are responsible for these new leakages and bursts."
Izharul Haq, also of the city government, told Dawn that a project had already been launched under which all the old pipelines would be replaced. "This project will cost Rs1.2 billion."
Answering a question, Mr Haq said the project would take about two years to complete. "Under this scheme, first the mains will be replaced and then the pumping station pipes. Later on the primary and tertiary lines would be replaced."
A source in the city government, on condition of anonymity, said foul play could not be ruled out. "Look, nowhere in the world do pipelines burst one after the another and with such high frequency.
"So, we are looking into the possibility of mischief." In response to a question, however, he said a proof was yet to surface in this regard. Meanwhile, a source in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board said some of its pumps had developed some faults recently. "Because these pumps were out of service, the engineers could not divert some of the water from the affected lines.
"As a consequence, the pressure in these pipes increased tremendously, resulting in the mishaps." In response to a question, he said most of these pumps had been repaired on Wednesday.
"From tomorrow we will be able to divert some of the water to other pipelines. Therefore, the pressure in the affected pipelines will come under control soon."
Suleman Chandio, a deputy managing director of the KWSB, was of the opinion that it was because of faulty developmental work that some pipelines had burst.
Mr Chandio said increased pressures in the pipelines were also to be blamed. "When there is high pressure in a pipe the deeper it is buried the better."
The KWSB's managing director had visited the site, he told Dawn. Mr Chandio added that faulty development work near Nagan Chowrangi was responsible for the leak in the pipeline near that roundabout. "Whenever the civic agencies decide to remodel a roundabout or road they should first divert all the pipelines running underneath it.
"That is they should lay new lines that bypass the roundabout. Then after properly stabilizing the soil they should go ahead with the remodelling work." This had not been done in case of almost all the roundabouts that had been remodelled, he added.
