January 20, 2008	Sunday	Muharram 10, 1429

KARACHI, Jan 19: Contrary to the claim by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board that water supply position in Lyari is near normal, acute shortage persisted in certain areas of the town with the worst-hit localities being Baghdadi, Shah Beg Lane, Daryabad, Nawabad and Chawkiwara.

People of these and many other localities were seen running from pillar to post to get the most pressing problem resolved as most of the thousands of households in the water-deficit areas could not afford buying tanker water on a daily basis for weeks.

PPP leader Rafique Engineer, a former MPA, refuted the KWSB claim that 19 million gallon per day was being supplied to Lyari. In fact, he said, the town was being supplied hardly 8mgd. The much-trumpeted Lyari water project, through which water deficient areas were to be supplied an additional 6mgd from the K-111 source, has not materialised as yet.

The PPP leader accused the utility and the city government of having created an artificial water crisis “to keep the Lyari population engaged in their civic problems to ensure they do not involve in political process.”