KARACHI, May 2: Scores of citizens complained of water shortage in their areas and accused the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board officials of taking least interest in solving the problem.
The complaints of water scarcity were received from PECHS, Hill Park areas, Chanesar Goth, Akhtar Colony, Shah Faisal Town, Frontier Colony, Sheerin Jinnah Colony, Clifton, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Orangi Town.
A resident of Rehmania Mohalla in Frontier Colony said water was supplied to the area earlier for two hours once in a week as per schedule, but with the advent of summer the situation had worsened. He said, “Now water is supplied to the locality only for 20 minutes once in a fortnight.”
Area people said tankers could move in the narrow streets of the locality to supply water and they solely depended on the water board. The population on the hillocks were the worst affected, they said adding that KWSB officials in the SITE Town were contacted time and again, but to no avail.
When contacted, the water board’s XEN in SITE said the lines would be checked and the problem would be solved shortly.
The residents of Al-Falah Society in Shah Faisal Town complained that water supply to the locality was stopped on 12th Rabi-ul-Awal and people were fetching water from far away mosques. They said that KWSB officials were contacted repeatedly, but instead of solving the problem they asked the residents to arrange funds themselves for replacement of the lines. They said the city government had allocated millions of rupees to improve water supply but the local offices of the water board were demanding area people to arrange funds at their own.
They warned if the problem persisted they would be compelled to take recourse to street protests.
The KWSB Superintending Engineer of the Shah Faisal Town, when contacted, said he had already taken notice of the public complaint and it would be solved after ascertaining the actual problem.
Residents of PECHS Society, Hill Areas, Chanesar Goth and Akhtar Colony also complained of short supply of water to their localities. Only water board officials could tell the way how to survive without water in this sultry summer, a resident remarked.
Complainants from Sheerin Jinnah Colony said they were getting water for daily use through water tankers or donkey carts at exorbitant rates, as the water board had failed to supply water. About the hydrants manned by Rangers, they said one would have to spare a whole day for getting water through tankers.
They pointed out that pipelines in the area were obsolete and they only received sewage-mixed water whenever pumping machine was operated. They urged the city nazim to take personal interest and get the problem solved at the earliest.
When contacted, the concerned superintending engineer said he was not aware of any such problem. He said the complainants should meet him so that the problem, if there existed any, could be look into and solved.
Residents of Islam Chowk, Orangi Town, Gulistan-i-Jauhar Block-19 and parts of Gulshan-i-Iqbal also complained of short supply to their areas.
