TOBA TEK SINGH, Sept 22: Potable water supply to two city areas has been disconnected for the past three months owing to replacement of old pipelines by the Tehsil Municipal Administration (TMA), and there are no chances of its immediate restoration.

The TMA had given a contract to Nespak to replace old water supply pipelines in Zia Colony and Sharif Colony on Toba-Waryamwala Road with new ones. The Nespak, however, sublet the execution of the project to a local contractor, who disconnected the consumers’ water supply connections and started laying the new pipelines.

Though the contractor had laid new pipelines, he had not restored the water supply connections yet. Similarly, main supply from TMA water supply facility to the newly-laid pipelines has not yet been restored as a result of which consumers are forced to fetch drinking water from nearby localities and are facing acute hardship especially during Ramazan.

When contacted, Chaudhry Afzal Yaqub, nazim of the union council concerned, confirmed that residents of both the localities were facing water dearth. He said he himself repeatedly contacted Nespak officials in this connection but to no avail.

It is pertinent to mention here that subsoil water of the town is brackish, and citizens are largely dependent on potable water supplied by the TMA.

INQUIRY: The district and sessions judge on Saturday ordered conducting a judicial inquiry into the killing of four alleged robbers in a shootout with police near Chuttiana on Shorkot Cantonment-Pir Mahal Road on Aug 10.