KARACHI, Jan 10: The city government and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board refuse to play ball with each other, as another major water pipeline burst near the Banaras roundabout on Saturday , damaging the pumping station and leaving in its wake submerged roads. This is the second incident of a water pipeline burst in the week.

The deputy managing director of the KWSB's technical services department, Mohammad Sulaiman Chandio, told Dawn that water supply to the entire Baldia Town would be affected due to the burst of 48-inch-dia pipeline. He added that since the Banaras roundabout housed a pumping station, water supply to many other localities would be affected.

Mr Chandio said the pipeline and the pumping station would be repaired within 48 hours.

"Many water pipelines, some having 66-inch-dia, criss-cross the Banaras roundabout. Since the 48-inch-dia pipeline has to supply water to Baldia Town, the KWSB maintains pressure in it at 50 pounds per square inch. This pipeline burst with a bang on Saturday, damaging not only the pumping station, but also two houses perched on a hill," he explained.

Mr Chandio said the KWSB had repeatedly requested the city government to build a bridge over the Banaras roundabout so that vehicles do not have to pass over the pipelines. He recalled that a pipeline had burst in the same locality two months back.

A KWSB press release says that water supply to Orangi, Baldia Town, Site and adjoining localities would be affected with the bursting of pipeline.

On Jan 6, a 33-inch-dia pipeline near Government Abdullah College had burst causing extensive damage to North Nazimabad's recently built Sharah-i-Chishti. The localities which were affected by the water pipeline burst were Paposh Nagar, Allama Iqbal Town, Hussain D' Silva Town, Banaras, Qasba and Aligarh Colony.

North Nazimabad Town Nazim had accused the KWSB of not taking any action to repair the pipeline, which had been leaking for the past one week. He had pointed out that if the leak had been plugged initially, the pipeline would not have burst.

The KWSB managing director, Brig Asif Ghazali, told Dawn on Saturday that such incidents would continue to occur until the government released funds to replace the pipelines, which had outlived their usefulness.

He said, "The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council has already approved a Rs1.2 billion Loss Reduction and System Strengthening project. However, the federal government has not yet released the funds for the project, which would be implemented in two years."

When contacted, a senior police official said: "The burst of the water pipeline was not an act of sabotage."

He said that the pipeline in the middle of the Banaras roundabout had been exposed for the past one year and had been badly decaying because of rust. Besides, extensive construction work was also in process. The bad condition of the pipeline could have caused it to burst.

He recalled that the same pipeline had burst about four months back that caused injuries to a boy. The matter was reported and investigated.

He said the investigators believed that a gas pipeline was running along the water pipeline under the ground. They were of the view that a gas leak could cause accumulation of gas underground and it could have been flashed out with a bang, rupturing both the lines.