KARACHI, June 13: On sultry Wednesday when the mercury rose to 35 degrees Celsius, residents of water-starved localities were left at the mercy of private water tanker operators who enjoyed a roaring business by charging exorbitant rates.

Complaints of persisting water shortage were received from different parts of the city. Residents of affected localities complained that despite lodging a number of complaints with the KWSB executive engineers and chief engineers of their respective zones, no practical measure had been taken so far to restore normal supply.

Residing in multi-storied apartment buildings and huge housing complexes of Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar, people deplored that the persisting water shortage and the lukewarm attitude of officials concerned had compelled them to dig up wells to meet water requirements.

Most complaints have been received from the residents of Lyari’s Baghdadi, D.D. Chaudhry Road, Kalri, Nawabad, Clifton’s blocks 2, 4 and 5, Haquani Chowk, Pakistan Chowk, parts of Gizri, Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 2, 10, 10-A, 13-C, 13-D, 13-D/1, Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s blocks 9, 10, 12 and 17, Al-Hamra Cooperative Housing Society, Jinnah Cooperative Housing Society, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, North Nazimabad’s blocks P (Hussain D’ Silva Town), Q and J, Federal B’ Area’s Block-14, Shah Faisal Town’s Barelvi Colony, Asifabad, Pak Colony and both the residential and industrial areas of SITE.

Residents of North Nazimabad’s Block `P’ (Hussain D’Silva Town) said that they have been experiencing acute water shortage for the last couple of months merely because they are supplied water after every four days and that too for one-and-a-half hours only.

People residing in Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block-10 complained that they were getting scant water supply despite the fact that they had arranged a new line in the locality when the previous one was stated obsolete. They said it was beyond their comprehension how the commercial concerns, situated just behind their locality on Rashid Minhas Road, were all getting sufficient water when their supply line was the same.