IF you go up to Gizri Boulevard in the DHA, you will come upon a roundabout dominated by giant water tanks. This is gate No 5 of the Gizri graveyard, barred from view by designer stones.

The high ground is adorned with silky grass and suspended flower-pots, abloom with roses. On the other side are leafy green shrubs. A filtering plant provides drinking water to all. No sign of water shortage there!

But all the streets extending from this roundabout are bone-dry. Water tankers supply the much needed water. Tankers marked ‘Cantonment Board’ might be noticed at some gates. They supply complimentary water to favourites only. Everyone else pays up to Rs5000 a tanker.

At one time we used to hear of a ‘cogen plant’ which would make water gush into our pipelines and provide electricity as well. We don’t hear about it any more!

Retirees suffer the most. Their houses were built in the ‘good old days’ but now they subsist on their meagre pensions, striving to share the price of a tanker with neighbours. They staged a protest at the Cantonment Board Office a few months ago. Being retired military officers themselves, they were pleased to see retired officers in the management too.

In fact, both the Cantonment Board and the DHA are directly under the Corps Commander. The protesters returned appeased. “Everything has been taken care of”, they claimed. Many months have passed but the tanker mafia still reigns supreme. Once a week there is commotion in the neighbourhood when water appears in the pipe-line. There is a rush to the underground water tanks. Alas! It is usually just a trickle.

Capt. S. Afaq Rizvi

Karachi

Published in Dawn December 8th, 2016