KARACHI, June 13: Protesters, demanding restoration of water supply to certain areas of Lyari, turned violent when law enforcement agencies lobbed teargas shells and resorted to baton-charge to disperse them. The hide-and-seek between the protesters and LEAs on Mauripur Road continued intermittently throughout the day which disrupted vehicular traffic.

Residents of Kalri and other localities along Mauripur Road took to the streets in the morning on Friday in protest against the persisting water shortage. They staged a peaceful demonstration against the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). They were demanding a fair distribution of water and measures to overcome the scarcity of drinking water which persisted in the area for months.

Police and rangers personnel arrived at the scene as the demonstration hindered flow of traffic on Mauripur Road. They asked the protesters to confine themselves to streets and not to cause blockade of the main road. Their advice, however, was ignored by the protesters.

The law enforcement agencies resorted to teargas shelling and baton-charge to disperse the protesters who responded with stone pelting. Angry mobs also lit bonfire in the middle of the road.

The elected representatives of the Lyari Town also reached there and spoke to the officials of law enforcement agencies.

They tried to cool down the protesters who were raising slogans: Water.... water and We Need Water. The law enforcement agencies pushed the protesters into narrow lanes and streets but they again emerged on the main road. This continued throughout the day and the road could be re-opened only after sunset.

“This (water) is the problem of two union councils — UC-2 and UC-6. The people living in Baloch Mohalla, Niazi Chowk, Bilal Road, Soomar Goth and Ali Mohammad Mohalla have been facing shortage of clean water for the past several years and this problem has become acute for the past three or four months forcing the area people to come out of their homes and protest against the unjust distribution of water,” Rasheed Baloch, Nazim of UC-2, Lyari Town, said.

He said the water scarcity in Ali Mohammad Mohalla of UC-6 persisted for the past 10 years and no government in the past had succeeded in overcoming it. Now the water supply has completely been suspended and this has led to the public protest.

Mr Baloch claimed that water supply to the affected areas of UC-2 and UC-6 areas was being made from the pumping station in Bihar Colony. The water pipeline passing through Keamari Town got damaged at various places while certain people in Agra Taj Colony had obtained illegal connections from the main line. He called for a strict check on illegal water supply through the pipeline, meant for Lyari residents and said all the illegal connections should be removed forthwith to ensure supply of the entire allocated water to its rightful consumers.

Mr Baloch acknowledged that following transfer of the XEN Lyari, water supply situation would improve in a couple of days.

Sources in the City government, however, said that an improvement in the water distribution system could not be brought about unless the KWSB was devolved into the city government under SLGO 2001.