KARACHI, July 24: Residents of Baghdadi and its adjoining areas in Lyari Town have complained that they have been receiving contaminated water for the past two weeks.

They said a civic agency a couple of weeks ago started digging work on Shah Latif Bhittai Road to lay new pipelines.”It seems that somewhere the sewerage line has joined the water supply line, causing mixing of sewage with water,” they maintained.

“The supply of polluted water is causing gastrointestinal diseases in the area,” said a resident. Another resident feared spread of epidemic diseases in the locality in case remedial steps were not taken immediately.

They said although they had lodged complaints with the concerned officials, but no measures had, so far, been taken to resolve the problem.

A provincial minister had made a surprise visit to the town recently to see the insanitary conditions. He also visited the Shah Latif Bhittai Road where sewage has flooded the area for the past three weeks.

A survey showed that sanitary conditions in the area have deteriorated as authorities have failed to address the issue.

Heaps of garbage could be seen on roads and streets in several localities. One of the causes for not lifting the garbage is said to be non-availability of vehicles.

However, a resident said the main cause was absence of sanitary staff as they do not attend their duties regularly.

According to a CBO activist, garbage collection and disposal has been one of the major problems in the town.

The residents said insanitary conditions had worsen after the induction of the new local bodies’ system, which, they said, has become ineffective so far as delivery of civic services is concerned.

Expressing their dissatisfaction over the functioning of the system, they said: “it seems to be incapable of performing its functions due to shortage of funds or necessary staff and equipment.”

Officials concede that they could not deliver effective service because of shortage of funds. The town is not capable of generating funds as it is without any commercial area.

Moreover, the town officials admit that they have failed to attend other issues due to the persistent water shortage problem in the area, which has been the main source of public agitation and after taking over charge the officials have always been engaged in sorting out water shortage. Other issues, such as garbage lifting and sanitation-related work, could not get due attention, they observed.

A visit to some of the localities showed that heaps of garbage were littered in most of the streets and roadsides, particularly in the congested areas where insanitary conditions are posing health hazards.

Representatives of NGOs pointed out the shortcomings of the new system, saying the present system of collection and disposal is insufficient to meet the needs of a growing population.

Over the years, due to the land grabbing activity of land mafia no suitable open space has been left for collection of garbage and all the designated places used earlier as dustbin sites have either been occupied or disappeared.

People generally complain that sanitary workers do not attend their duties and in many areas garbage dumps are lying unattended for weeks.

Complaints have also been received that waste vans do not operate frequently or are usually operating in some influential areas. It is also said that the vans often do not operate due to the lack of maintenance and sanitary workers are not often available as they have taken up second jobs.