KARACHI, April 25: Firing at Bihar Colony pumping station by unidentified people plunged the already hard-hit Lyari Town into a much deeper water crisis on Friday as the facility’s staff fled in panic and supply from the station stopped.

Apparently aerial, the heavy firing left the pumping station’s building riddled with bullets and, according to official sources, forcing the panicked staff to run to safety.

It was the second incident of water-related violence in four days involving a pumping station of the town. On Monday, an enraged group of residents of a water-starved locality attacked the official car of Abdul Rahim Khatti, superintending engineer (Lyari) of the city government’s Water and Sanitation Department, with clubs and stones at the same pumping station. The attackers badly damaged the vehicle.

On Friday, a group of armed men struck at the station and opened an indiscriminate fire at it at about 4am creating panic in the entire locality and adjoining areas.

Perturbed over the law and order situation, senior officials of the W&S Department resorted to sound a distress call seeking an immediate deployment of army and rangers personnel to protect its installations in and ensure safety of its staff in Lyari.

“The frequent attacks were brought into the notice of the concerned police station but police officials turned down a request for the deployment of cops at the pumping stations. They advised us to seek police help if an when such an untoward incident takes place,” a senior official of the W&S Department said. He said that the Department approached the Nazim of Lyari Town, Abdul Khaliq Juma, who accordingly urged the town police officer (TPO) to take appropriate measures to prevent recurrence of such incident.

Claiming that almost the entire valve operation in Lyari was being manipulated and tempered with by local leaders, some W&S officials maintained that as matter of fact, the department’s staff had virtually no control over the operation. Due to the situation, they added, the staff was not able to pursue the town’s water supply schedule.

With the stoppage of pumping from Bihar Colony station, those parts of Lyari fed by the installation went dry on Friday. Pumping process is not likely to resume on Saturday also as the staff appeared reluctant to risk their lives amid fear and tension, sources said. Efforts, however, were under way to persuade the staff to return to their duties.

The localities which went without water on Friday following the attack include Bihar Colony, Agra Taj Colony, Tannery Road, Atma Ram Road, Shah Beg Lane, New Kalri, Rangiwara, Ali Mohammad Mohalla, Hazara Colony, Madina Masjid Road, UBL Street, Al-Falah Road and Ghausia Masjid Road.

Describing Lyari’s water problem as ‘political and not technical’ issue, the W&S officials claimed that Lyari was not only being supplied its fixed quota of 13 million gallons of water but the weekly water-holiday (a system introduced in Indus-fed areas of the city) was also not being applied to Lyari owing to its peculiar condition.

The department’s senior officials have appealed to the elected representatives of Lyari Town, including MPAs, Town Nazim and UC Nazims, to come forward and expose the elements bent upon disrupting the water supply and exploiting the situation for political gains.

Disputing the department’s claim that the Lyari was being supplied 13mgd water, a number of Lyari’s union councils revealed that out of six pumps installed at Bihar Colony pumping station, two were already lying out of order since long. Besides, the added, the station’s generator could not be operated during power breakdowns owing to its faulty battery.

DHABEJI PUMP HOUSE: Water supply position in many other towns also remained badly affected on Friday owing to a major power breakdown at Dhabeji (Phase-III) pumping house on Friday.