April 16, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-us-Sani 9, 1429

KARACHI, April 15: After months of delays and bureaucratic wrangling, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) will on April 20 finally take control of nine hydrants from the Rangers, a senior official of the water utility informed Dawn.

The official said that the decision was taken during a meeting between senior Rangers’ and KWSB officials on Saturday. He added that while the hydrants will initially be handed over to the KWSB, they will later be given to the municipal administrations of the towns where they are located.

This will bring the hydrants’ operation in line with the city district government’s policy of making the hydrants town-specific.

“Once this happens, the relevant town municipal administrations will be responsible for the operation of each of the hydrants,” said the source. “Tankers drawing water from any of the town-specific hydrants will then be required to supply water to the water-deficient pockets of that town alone.”

Referring to the steps devised to prevent the unlawful movement of tankers or the sale of water to other towns, the official said that each town municipal administration will choose a different colour in which to paint its tankers.

This, the authorities believe, will play a vital role in identifying tankers operating outside their lawful jurisdictions. Furthermore, tanker owners will be required to register their vehicles at town-specific hydrants. The registration of a tanker found selling water in an area outside its jurisdiction would be cancelled.

“These rules have been formulated in order to restrict the movement of tankers to the towns in which they are registered,” said the official.

“In this way, tankers registered at the hydrant of a certain town will be bound to supply water only to the dry localities of that town. Meanwhile, the considerable wear and tear suffered by the city’s roads as a result of tanker movement will be reduced, as will tankers’ involvement in road accidents.”

Decision on Muslimabad hydrants awaited

Also relevant in this regard is an earlier undertaking given by the KWSB to the Sindh High Court that the two hydrants in Muslimabad would be shifted elsewhere once their control had been regained from the Rangers.

Asked about this, the source said that a final decision in this regard would be taken at a meeting that is soon to be convened between the KWSB and the administration of Jamshed town, under whose jurisdictions the hydrants are currently located.

The High Court ordered the hydrants to be shifted since they are located in the Muslimabad residential area and pose a severe nuisance to not only the people of this area but also those in adjacent localities such as Shikarpur Colony, Catholic Colony and Khudadad Colony. The residents complain that the frequent movement of tankers to and from the hydrants had not only devastated the areas’ roads but also resulted in road accidents.