KARACHI, Aug 24: At a time when scores of main roads and streets have already been ruined by water tankers which shuttle round-the-clock between their water source and destinations, a major portion of the recently-built Nishtar Road has once again been exposed to destruction in the wake of the reopening of hydrants in the area, reportedly under the patronage of the police department.

Terming the act of reopening of the hydrants ‘unlawful’, City Nazim Naimatullah Khan in a letter (No Nazim/City/Secy/4073/2003) to the capital city police officer (CCPO), has urged him to ensure that the hydrants are not allowed to operate at any cost because such an acts amounts to challenging the writ of the city government.

The letter, copies of which have also been sent to the IG Sindh and DIG (Operations) Karachi, the Nazim has inter alia stated: “On account of dilapidation of Nishtar Road which remained closed for about nine years and due to strong protest by residents of the area against the operation of hydrants it was ordered to keep them closed. This order, he added, has been followed and implemented during the last one year.

“But now under the patronage of police department, it is learnt that the hydrants at Nishtar Road have started operation. This is a very serious matter and it cannot be expected that writ of the city district government will be ignored and the official of the police department will help the violators. The writ of the city government is being challenged with the help of police department.”

The Nazim has asked the city police chief to look into the matter and give it due importance by ensuring that the hydrants are not allowed to operate at any cost.

A major portion of Nishtar Road (from Teen Hatti to Lasbella) had remained impassable for about a decade following its devastation by the 24-hours movement of the tankers fetching water from the hydrants on the nearby Lyari River Bank.

However, shortly after the inception of the city government, the city Nazim got the road reconstructed and ordered permanent closure of all the hydrants responsible for the devastation. His move was warmly welcomed by the residents of the adjacent kutchi abadis and those of Martin Quarters and Jehangir Road as well as the people who frequently pass through Nishtar Road and its link roads.

The tankers drawing water from the hydrants on Nishtar Road had created deep potholes also across the nearby Jehangir Road and main PIB Colony Road which have since became impassable following the recent rains.

Dozens of other important roads, including Dadabhoy Nauroji Road, the roundabout of the SMCH Society, Capt Fareed Bukhari Shaheed Road, various sections of Kashmir Road, New M. A. Jinnah Road, Shahrah-i-Quaideen and Khalid Bin Waleed Road, which were already in a dilapidated condition owing to the frequent movement of tankers drawing water from Muslimabad hydrants, have suffered an extensive damage following the recent rains.

These roads have now become bumpy and uneven at various places and the deep potholes have also been causing accidents. Motorcyclists and passengers of rickshaws are the worst sufferers.

A big fleet of tankers, many of them carrying up to 10,000/ 15,000 gallons of water, keep on shuttling between the hydrants and the water-starved localities on these roads day and night. Leaking nozzles of these tankers make the roads slippery.

Over 2,000 tankers which draw water from 30 filling points of two different hydrants in Muslimabad, on the one hand, are devastating the roads and, on the other, are the main source of accidents on some of busy roads, particularly those situated in the vicinity of the hydrants. A number of accidents involving water tankers have already taken place on Dadabhoy Nauroji Road and at two busy intersections, one being Shahrah-i-Quaideen—Khalid Bin Waleed Road and the other Shahrah-i-Quaideen—Tariq Road.

According to sources, the number of tankers drawing water from Muslimabad hydrants has increased manifold as there is no more a restriction on the tankers with a capacity of 10,000 gallons and above to fetch water from these hydrants. Earlier, only those tankers with a capacity of 1,200 gallons of water were allowed to be filled from these hydrants.

Besides causing other problems, these tankers have become a source of nuisance for the residents of Muslimabad and the nearby Catholic Colony. Whenever there is a long queue of tankers at the filling points, drivers of other tankers usually park their vehicles not only on the main Dadabhoy Nauroji Road but also in front of the bungalows of these areas.

Residents of both the localities have, off and on, been complaining that the drivers and cleaners of the tankers, often sitting on top of their respective vehicles talk loudly and use abusive language against each other. The residents complain that their act tantamount to usurping their right of privacy.

SCHOOLS: A dangerous aspect of the whole affair is that a number of schools are located in Muslimabad and its periphery and hence the students are vulnerable to accidents involving the tankers.

It has often been noticed that drivers of school vans, in their bid to maintain punctuality in dropping students at their respective schools, take a short cut and turn to the other track of the Dadabhoy Nauroji Road without slowing down their vehicles. They ignore the possibility of a fast-approaching tankers from the other side, near Aisha Aziz Park, rising a collision.

Ironically, no traffic constable is deployed near the roundabout or in the vicinity of Muslimabad frequented by hundreds of tankers every day. Drivers of both the tankers and school vans most often indulge in reckless driving.

The two other hydrants, situated near F. B. Area’s Water Pump roundabout and at North Nazimabad’s Sakhi Hassan roundabout, have long been creating hindrance in the smooth flow of vehicular traffic in the areas besides causing extensive damage to the roads and service lanes.

The two hydrants belong to the city government’s water and sanitation department but are being managed by the Rangers.

Though the city Nazim had earlier issued directives to the W&S department to close down the hydrants, both of them are very much operative till date.