KARACHI, March 31: Several parts of the city continued to experience an acute shortage of water on Monday because of faulty water distribution system and frequent power failures, which have been badly affecting pumping stations. Residents of the affected areas said that while they had already been receiving water with low pressure, the load-shedding had further curtailed the supply.

People calling from different localities of North Nazimabad’s Block P (Hussain D’ Silva Town) said they had received not a single drop of water for several days. They wondered why the KWSB engineers and officials had failed to rectify the fault responsible for this chronic problem.

“Whenever the lingering issue is brought to the notice of the staff manning the local pumping station, it is stated that the KWSB’s bulk water supply department is not releasing the area’s water quota in full on one pretext or the other and, therefore, they are not able to ensure equal distribution of water among the localities hooked to the pumping station,” one of the callers said.

“It is for 10 days that we have been purchasing the dubious and expensive tanker water to meet our day-to-day requirements because of the disruption in water supply,” lamented another caller.

Complaints of persisting water shortage have also been received from Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block 2 and 10-A; Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Blocks 12 and 17; Mehmoodabad, Channeser Goth, Manzoor Colony, Kharadar, Karachi Administrative Society, parts of Pak Colony, PECHS Block 6 (Green-belt Area) and different localities of Keamari Town.

Residents of the affected localities said that frequent load-shedding and the acute water shortage had made their lives miserable. “It seems that there is no one who could ask the utility to mitigate the sufferings of its consumers by ensuring adequate supply of water to the affected areas,” a perturbed resident said.

Apprehending that water and power supply position may deteriorate in the upcoming summer, the affected consumers urged the authorities concerned to immediately take remedial measures to improve the performance of the KWSB and KESC.

Meanwhile, people living in high-rise buildings have complained that the frequent and prolonged load-shedding for several weeks in the city had practically made it almost impossible to pump water from the underground tanks to the overhead tanks.

They said the short span of time between two load-shedding spells was quite insufficient to pump water in an adequate quantity for a large number of families residing in any of the high-rise buildings.