THE water hydrant located in block 6, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, in the vicinity of Nipa Chowrangi is the cause of acute angst for residents of the area.

The hydrant operators have increased supply manifold to tankers in the past few months. This has led to a big reduction in water supply to residents of the area.

The situation has deteriorated to the point where houses in close vicinity to the hydrant get a trickle for an hour or so, while residents further down the road receive water for a short duration only on Sunday morning.

The houses located even further get no water at all. This situation has forced the residents to purchase water from the same hydrant.

Before the increase in supply to tankers, no more than seven or eight tankers were to be seen at the hydrant. Now the hydrant operators have also encroached on the adjacent playground and dozens of tankers are found parked in the block’s only playground. The children have no ground to play while the residents have lost an open space.

The Sindh government should direct Karachi civic authorities to remove this hydrant as is being done in other city areas.

Masud Abid Shaikh
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 10th, 2018