KARACHI, Aug 2: The entire road network in Lyari Town has been devastated by stagnant rainwater and sewage as the civic system seems to have collapsed. The arteries built recently also could not escape heavy damage as no measures have so far been taken to flush out the standing water and sewage.

In some parts of affected areas, residents took to the streets to protest against the failure of civic agencies in discharging their duty and also against the KESC for causing the dual crisis of power and water in the town.

Enraged residents of Rangiwara and Kalri areas on Tuesday night staged demonstration and lit bonfire to disrupt vehicular traffic to demand restoration of water and power supply to their localities. Tannery Road and Ahmed Shah Bukhari Road remained blocked for quite some time due to the agitation.

Criticising strongly the civic agencies for their indifferent attitudes towards their grievances, they pointed out that after the chronic water shortage and persisting power crisis, as well as unhygienic conditions, in the city’s oldest locality, the devastation caused by the rainfall had multiplied their problems.

Naib Nazim of the town Abdullah Rahim Baloch also observed that the stagnant water had been playing havoc with the road network and posed threat to people’s health. The frequent and prolonged power failures have aggravated the situation, he said, adding that people of Lyari had been made to flush out the rainwater from their houses as well as localities on a self-help basis.

He said that like elsewhere in the city, the situation in Lyari was serious as no stormwater drains had been cleaned before the rainfall.

The naib nazim regretted that there was no coordination among different civic agencies, and criticised the city government for not cooperating with the Lyari Town administration in carrying out the emergency work relating to rains. He pointed out that the city government had provided necessary equipment to all other towns but totally ignored Lyari.

“We are making all out efforts for the disposal of rainwater from narrow lanes and low-lying areas with all available means and resources.”He said that on receiving a complaint from the head master of a government school in Chawikawara No 2, he himself went there to make arrangements for flushing out the rainwater from the school’s vicinity which had submerged.

He also agreed that sanitary conditions in the town were not satisfactory despite the fact that there were 2,300 workers available to the town administration ‘on papers’. The workers really available would not discharge their duties regularly, he added.

Meanwhile, residents of Baghdadi and its adjoining areas have complained that they have been receiving contaminated water for the past few days. They said that the contamination might have been caused by mixing of sewage with drinking water due to damaged pipelines.

They feared spread of waterborne diseases in the locality owing to this problem and urged to authorities to take remedial measures immediately.

A survey of the town showed that heaps of garbage were littered everywhere and filth and dirt had become a common sight.

Activists of various NGOs operating in the town blamed the situation on local body members who failed to mitigate their sufferings. However, town officials held the city government responsible for their failure.