KARACHI: KWSB blames power cuts for water shortage
By Azizullah Sharif
Karachi, May 29: The water supply situation aggravated on Tuesday when almost all the localities of the city hooked to the Hub Dam source either went dry or received scant supply owing to a shortfall of 22 million gallons of water it suffered on Monday.
The affected localities include sprawling townships of Orangi, Baldia, North Karachi, Surjani, Shershah, Qasba and both the residential and industrial areas of Site.
Residents of the localities hooked to the Hub source as well as those already experiencing acute water shortage for over a fortnight complained that water shortage problem together with frequent unannounced load-shedding had made their lives miserable in the scorching heat.
Pumping of water at the Hub pumping station came to a standstill at 8pm on Monday after its power supply went off as a result of a fire that erupted at the KESC Valika Grid Station.
According to the KWSB officials, pumping of water from the Hub pumping station remained suspended for more than three hours as there was no electricity at the pumping station from 8pm and 11.16pm on Monday and as such the city, on Monday, received 22 million gallons less supply from the pumping station.
Already various localities of the city, particularly those belonging to the former districts East and South, had been in the grip of acute water shortage for over a fortnight, the Monday’s shortfall of 22 million gallons worsened the situation in several other localities of the former district West, as well.
Complaints of persisting water shortage continued to pour in newspaper offices from Al-Hilal Society, Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s blocks 1, 4 and 17, Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 2, 10, 10-A, 13-D and 13-D/1, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, Clifton’s blocks 2, 4 and 5, parts of PECHS Block 6, Baghdadi, Kalri, Ramswami and Garden East.
KORANGI: Water-borne diseases have become a matter of routine in T Area, Korangi No 2 mainly owing to continuous consumption of sub-soil unhygienic water in the absence of piped water.
Residents of the locality complained that although the entire locality had been experiencing acute water shortage since long, a number of houses, starting from House No T-501 to T-580, had been deprived of water for the last several years and all their complaints in this regard had fallen on deaf ears.
DEATH TRAP: Residents of several houses in Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block 4, opposite Farah Model School, have been facing hardship in entering their houses as a portion of road which the KWSB contractors had dug up more than a month back for laying pipeline had been left unfilled.
Regretting the indifferent attitude of the KWSB officials concerned, the residents of the affected houses apprehended that someone might become victim of the dug up portion of the road.
They demanded of the KWSB managing director to direct the officials concerned to fill the dug up portion of the road without any further delay to avoid any mishap.
