05 November 2004	Friday	21 Ramazan 1425

KARACHI, Nov 4: A mafia is actively engaged in providing illegal connections to multi-storied buildings and bungalows from both main and distribution lines, creating acute water shortage in Clifton's Block 2.

In a joint complaint lodged with the KWSB managing director, Brig Iftikhar Haider, residents of the affected locality said that on one hand, the acute water shortage had been persisting in almost the entire of Block 2 and, on the other, a group of people belonging to the KWSB's Clifton division were giving illegal connections to multi-storied buildings and bungalows of influential people.

They alleged that when they visited the locality's Shell pump, near Masjid-i-Siddiq, they found a group of people busy in providing illegal connections to someone and on their arrival there they fled the scene with their tools.

"We can identify those people as they belong to the KWSB's Clifton division and often remain present at an office of the defunct KDA, behind Bilawal House," the residents added.

Upon receiving the complaint, the KWSB deputy managing director (Technical Services), Israr Zaidi, in a letter written to the Clifton's Executive Engineer has stated inter alia: "Since the allegations concerning the provision of illegal connections by the KWSB themselves did not put good reflection in the eyes of the public, the MD wants you to inquire into such allegations, ascertaining the facts and ground realities and intimate about his findings without any delay."

Complaints of providing illegal water connections had been pouring in newspapers offices not only from Clifton's Block 2 but also from other parts of the city mainly owing to permanent postings of KWSB officials in one division or at one place. In some cases, there are officials who have been sticking to their posts at one division for the last 10 years and as such they have monopolised the issues concerning their divisions.

Some insiders said that the monopoly of those officials who have been posted in one division for the last several years could be brought to an end only if the Sindh governor's directive concerning their transfers from one place to another is implemented.