KARACHI, April 4: A six-inch-dia pipeline burst near Aziz Bhatti police station flooding the nearby busy Hassan Square traffic intersection and adjacent service road on Sunday.
As the water gushing out from the burst pipeline spread all around the Hassan Square traffic intersection, the flow of traffic was badly disrupted. Pedestrians were the worst sufferers, as they had no choice but to wade through the stagnant water.
In wake of the burst pipeline, the localities which would go dry on Monday and Tuesday include Gulshan-i-Iqbal's blocks 16 and 17. Insiders told Dawn that the pipeline was burst because water to the pipeline was released without ensuring that valve-men concerned were on duty for diverting water to the localities hooked to it.
"In fact the pumping machine, set up at LSR hydrant, had gone out of order on Saturday. Shortly after its repair on Sunday, the officials concerned switched on the pumping machine to release water to the pipeline without ensuring that the valve-men concerned were on duty for its onward distribution.
Since no valve-man was on duty, water through the pipeline could not be released further to the localities and the pipeline got burst due to pressure of water," sources said.
"The localities hooked to the burst pipeline are generally supplied water from 6am to 6pm and hence no valve-man was present on duty after 6pm on Sunday evening for opening the valves," they added.
Besides, another 24-inch-dia pipeline that supplies water to Lyari Town had been leaking near New Town police station for the last one month. Water coming out from the leaking pipeline was not only causing damage to a portion of University Road near New Town police station, but was also creating water shortage to the localities hooked to it.
Another pipeline passing through a service road near Hassan Square Apartments had been leaking for the last couple of months. Water coming out from the leaking pipeline had already ruined a major portion of the service road, besides an unhygienic condition continues to prevail all around the shopping centre of Hassan Square.
People residing in the vicinity complained that although they had lodged a number of complaints with the KWSB officials concerned, no measures had been taken to repair the pipeline so far.
Suspecting that the filthy water accumulated near the site of leaking pipeline might be seeping into the water line through its leakage, the residents demanded of the KWSB managing director to direct the officials concerned to repair the same as soon as possible.
