KARACHI, June 8: Residents of Lyari’s Gulistan Colony, Madina Road and Keamari Town’s Mohammad Colony on Sunday staged a protest demonstration to voice their anger over the persisting water shortage in their localities.

The protesters, who had assembled in front of the Karachi Press Club, chanted slogans against the officials of the city government’s water and sanitation department and accused them of creating an artificial water shortage to benefit the tanker mafia.

The demonstrators who included women and children too were holding placards and banners inscribed with slogans such as “pani do warna kursi chorr do”, “remove illegal connections”, “don’t deprive us of water in hot weather,” etc.

They said although their localities had been experiencing an acute water shortage for the last four months, officials of the W&S department had not yet taken measures to restore normal supply despite a number of complaints lodged with them.

They also criticised the Nazims of their localities for not taking up the issue of with the high officials of the city government and the W&S department.

They demanded of the city Nazim and senior officials of the W&S department to direct the officials concerned to restore supply in their localities without any further delay, so that they were not forced to buying private tankers at exorbitant rates.

Complaints of persisting water shortage have also been received from the residents of different sectors of Surjani Town, North Karachi, Orangi Town Baldia, Ranchorr Lane, Mithadar, Kharadar, Bhimpura, Jubilee Cinema and Haquani Chowk.

Water shortage also persists in several areas of Malir, including Pak Kausar Town, Kausar Town, Indus Mehran, Alimabad, Saudia Colony, parts of Model Colony etc.

Residents complained that they had not been receiving water regularly and had to purchase tankers to fulfil their water needs.

They said that tanker operators often turn down their request for water claiming that they can’t enter certain narrow streets.

They said that piped water was the only solution to the needs of the Karachiites for which the concerned department should make elaborate arrangements.

The residents of Saudia Colony said that they receive water on alternate days.

Water is, however, with low pressure and it covers only a few streets on the beginning of the system, and those on the tail-end of the system suffer and have to rely on tankers.

They said that they had complained to the concerned department whose staff expressed their inability to supply water with pressure as it required pumping by at least three motors.

They said that they can operate two motors at a time and not three which was the major reason that tail-end areas had not been receiving water.

Meanwhile, the localities where water supply would remain suspended on Monday as part of the weekly water-holiday system include all blocks of North Nazimabad, Federal B’ Area, Shadman Town and parts of Nazimabad.

OVERFLOW: Filthy water gushing out from a storm-water drain on Sunday spread onto a portion of the main University Road, near Civic Centre.