KARACHI, Feb 8: At least 2,000 houses belonging to eight localities of Orangi Town have been getting contaminated water owing to leaking pipelines.

The affected localities include Islam Chowk, behind old police station; Pakistan Bazaar; Benazir Colony; Shamsi Colony; Feroz Shah Colony; Mehmoodabad; Ali Nagar and Aziz Nagar.

Residents of some affected areas have put up banners at some places, urging the nazim of their respective union council to take up the issue with the higher authorities, or else they would be forced to take some drastic action.

When the woman nazim of Orangi Town's UC-9, Shehnaz Perveen, was contacted to know the actual position, she deplored that although she had sent letters to the KWSB officials concerned informing them about the menace of contaminated water continuously being supplied in various localities of her union council, none of them had taken interest in rectifying the fault so far.

According to her, the main cause of contaminated water is the leakages which had developed in a number of pipelines supplying water to the affected localities.

"The pipeline passing through a nullah near Benazir Colony and supplying water to the colony and some parts of Pakistan Bazaar had been leaking for the last eight months, but, the KWSB officials have not yet bothered to repair it," she said, adding that another pipeline which is located in Islam Chowk, behind old police station and which supplies water to four localities - Shamsi Colony, Mehmoodabad, Feroz Shah Colony and Ali Nagar - had developed leakages shortly after Eidul Fitr had not been repaired so far.

Yet another pipeline which was passing through under-construction Shahrah-i-Orangi, near Aziz Nagar, was damaged about a week back when some digging works was going on and it was since then a nearby locality (Aziz Nagar) was getting contaminated water, she added.

Apprehending that some diseases might spread in the affected localities owing to continuous supply of contaminated water, she urged the city nazim and the KWSB managing director to direct the officials concerned to plug the leakages without any further delay and ensure supply of clean water to the affected localities.