ON the one hand, the state is emphasising the need to follow good hygiene as part of the SOPs against coronavirus, while on the other, it fails to provide clean drinking water to the citizens. I am unable to understand the policy behind cutting down the water supply in peak summer.

I live in an area of Karachi which used to be the dream of many. In my community, we used to have artists, poets, sportsmen and other known faces in the neighbourhood, but that trend has changed drastically. Now it is a community of people who making a basic living as part of this mafia or that.

The youth wants to live an exotic life without realising that it will ruin the next generation and the residence will not be a place to live any longer. The area has been filled with garbage, with janitors complaining of dwindling staff strength. They are right in saying that the population has multiplied in the wake of illegal multi-storied buildings that are now part of the once-serene neighbourhood.

As things stand today, getting water is not a simple task of having a water connection; it is a lot more about having connections inside the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). We are sitting on a time bomb with state authorities sleeping over it as they know any action will result in voters becoming angry and defaming the party.

Syed Muhammad Hasan Baqar Rizvi

Karachi

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2021