KARACHI, July 27: Diarrhoea cases among children and elderly people in the city are on the rise reportedly owing to unhygienic and brackish water being supplied through private tankers in certain water-starved localities.

Confirming that diarrhoea and dysentery cases being reported at hospitals have increased during the last fortnight, doctors attributed it to consumption of unhygienic water by people who either depend on tanker service or consume sub-soil water. Most of such patients are residents of Baldia, Orangi, KDA Scheme-33, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Landhi, Korangi and the old city areas. The general complaint was about dysentery and nausea, the doctors said.

Keeping in view that a majority of the hydrants from where private tankers draw water are located on either side of both the Lyari and Malir River banks, they could not rule out the possibility of seepage of filthy water into the wells of the so-called hydrants. They feared that over 300mgd untreated sewage, which passed through Lyari and Malir rivers daily before falling into the sea, could also seeped into the wells dug up near the rivers.

Though the KWSB recently launched a drive against some illegal hydrants no serious effort was made by the authorities concerned to seal or dismantle the hydrants located along the Lyari and Malir rivers, they said.

Sources in the water board, however, said that a drive against illegal hydrants located along the two rivers would be initiated soon.

Residents of affected localities said the tanker operators under the rules were supposed to get the tankers painted in green and pink colours to distinguish those selling drinking water and those supplying water not fit for human consumption to industries. However, they said the rules were being violated and feared that it might be a cause of the spread of water-borne diseases.