KARACHI: Water supply normalized ahead of schedule
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, March 10: Repair work of Dhabeji rising main, which had burst on Monday, has been completed ahead of schedule. As such, water supply to the city would normalize by early Thursday.
Water supply in the entire city, except for the localities hooked to the Hub source, was badly affected following a major power breakdown at Dhabeji pumping station. The abrupt suspension of electric supply caused heavy jerk in the rising mains conveying water to most areas of the metropolis. One of them had burst due to an intense back pressure.
A senior official of the KWSB told Dawn that the officials, who the Managing Director, Brig Asif Ghazali, had assigned the task of repair, got the work completed 24 hours ahead of schedule. Water was released in the rising main at 1pm on Wednesday.
The official said that the supply position would normalize by Wednesday night. In the meantime, several parts of the city remained in the grip of an acute water shortage for the second consecutive day, Wednesday. Among the hard-hit were the localities of Jamshed, Saddar and Gulshan-i-Iqbal towns where residents complained of scant supply and low pressure.
Complaints of persisting water shortage were also received from PECHS Blocks 2 and 6, Khudadad Colony, Mohammad Ali Society, Bangalore Town, Adamjee Nagar, Jinnah Cooperative Housing Society, Dhoraji Colony, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, Hyderabad Colony, Jamshed Road, Jehangir Quarters, Martin Quarters, almost all blocks of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, PIB Colony, New Town, Sindhi Muslim Cooperative Housing Society, Burnes Road, Ranchor Line and parts of Saddar Town.
Residents of the affected localities had to purchase private tankers at an exorbitant rates. Taking undue advantage of the shortage, tanker operators did a roaring business on Wednesday, charging between Rs500 and 600 per tanker.
A large number of the tankers, drawing water from both the private and KWSB's hydrants, were seen shuttling along nearly all the major thoroughfares of the city.
LEAKAGE: Water gushing out of a broken pipeline has heavily damaged the service road near Hassan Square, in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, and created unhygienic condition.
People residing at Hassan Square, as well as inhabitants of Hassan Apartment, have deplored that on the one hand, a considerable quantity of water was going waste every daily due to the leakage and, on the other, the roads were being damaged by the gushing water.
Pointed out that the pipeline had been leaking since long, they lamented that the concerned KWSB officials had not yet bothered to get it repaired despite a number of complaints having been lodged with them.
Fearing that the water turning filthy due to being accumulated for many days could seep into the freshwater pipeline, they urged MD and chief engineer (Water distribution) of the KWSB to direct the concerned officials to arrange an immediate repair of the damaged pipeline.
Meanwhile, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan directed the KWSB to constitute a committee for conducting enquiry into the burst of Dhabeji's main rising, adds PPI. According to sources privy to Nazim, the directives were given to KWSB managing director. The committee would be responsible to submit report about this incident within three days.
"The committee will go through each and every aspect of the incident, which has created acute water shortage," sources added. In a press release, the KWSB spokesman said that normal supply of water to city had been restored on Wednesday evening, as the repair work on 72-inch-dia rising main was completed 24 hours before the stipulated time.
