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KARACHI, May 29: Private water tankers did a roaring business on Thursday as many localities of all the five former districts of the city remained in the grip of acute water shortage.
The persisting water shortage in several localities of most of the towns on one hand caused a great deal of trouble and anguish to people in the current hot and sultry weather and on the other gave a boost to the sale of private tankers, most of which fetch water from the hydrants selling sub-soil unhygienic water.
A large number of tankers were seen shuttling between hydrants and water-starved localities, their leaking nozzles making roads sloppy in the process.
Residents of the affected areas said that the owners of tankers, taking undue advantage of the water shortage on Thursday, increased the rates of tankers, charging Rs350 for a tanker of 1,200 gallons and between Rs550 and R600 for a tanker containing 2,400 gallons.
The town-wise list of the localities which either went dry or received a scant supply of water with low pressure is as follows:
JAMSHED TOWN: Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, Akhtar Colony, PECHS blocks 2, 3 and 6.
SADDAR TOWN: Bath Island, Clifton, blocks 2, 3, 4, 5 and 7, Ranchorre Lane, Bhimpura, Haquani Chowk, Pakistan Chowk and parts of Kharadar and Mithadar.
KEAMARI TOWN: Shireen Jinnah Colony, Bhutta Village and Keamri.
NORTH KARACHI TOWN: North Karachi, sectors 5-C, 5-C/1, 5-D, 5-D/2, 11-A and 11-B and New Karachi, Sector 5-E.
ORANGI TOWN: Sector 11 1/2, Ghausia Colony, Benazir Colony, Bewa Quarters, Nishan-i-Haider Chowk, Makhdoom Shah Colony, Warsia Colony, Millat Colony, Aziz Nagar, Iqbal Baloch Colony, Junaid Nagar.
BALDIA TOWN: All tail-end areas
GULSHAN TOWN: Gulshan-i-Iqbal, blocks 4, 4-A (Journalists Society), 10, 13-A and 13-C.
LIAQUATABAD: C-1 Area, Sindhi Muslim Hotel, Old Golimar and Nazimabad No 3.
LYARI: Nawabad, Tannery Road, New Kalri, Memon Society and parts of Baghdadi.
KORANGI TOWN: Korangi’s Q Area.
SITE TOWN: Both industrial and residential areas and Shershah.
Moreover, the other parts of the city which went without
water under a weekly water holiday system on Thursday included Landhi, Korangi, Defence Housing Authority, National Refinery, Karachi Port Trust, PAF (Korangi) Base and its adjoining areas.
CLOSURE: The other parts of the city where water supply will remain suspended on Friday include Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 3, 4, 6, 7, 10, 10-A, 13-A, 13-B, 16, 17 and 18.
Though the water and sanitation department under the water holiday system have been suspending the supply of some localities once a week so that it could be diverted to the sprawling townships of Orangi, Baldia, Surjani, North Karachi, Shershah and parts of the SITE industrial, complaints about acute water shortage have continued to pour in newspaper offices from the localities for which the holiday system was introduced in October 2002.
Water supply to various parts of former district West was suspended in October last when their supply from the Hub source had come to end. Since then a weekly water holiday system is in place for the localities hooked to the Indus source.
Meanwhile, residents of water-starved localities complained that on one hand they are spending a considerable amount of money on buying private tankers and on the other they were falling victim to serious abdomen diseases owing to uncleaned water being supplied by private tankers.
A number of drivers of tankers drawing water from both the private and the water and sanitation department’s hydrants also often indulge in rash and negligent driving although the maximum speed limit fixed for the tankers is 40 kilometres per hour.
