KARACHI, Sept 22: Danger of erupting fatal water-borne diseases which had already claimed 10 lives in different parts of Landhi Town is still persisting in Awami Colony as a number of pipelines passing through a sewage-carrying nullah have not yet been disconnected reportedly owing to resistance being put up by residents of the locality.
Though the KWSB has replaced the Colony’s 4-inch dia main water supply line, located near the Colony’s Jamia Masjid Allahwali, seven other connections of three and 2.5 inches dia which, according to KWSB’s officials, have been taken illegally by the residents from the nearby industrial area’s 12-inch dia pipeline and are passing through the sewage-filled nullah are still intact and as such the possibility of another outbreak of water-borne diseases in the locality cannot be ruled out.
People residing in about 7,000 houses of two other affected localities –- Dawood Challi and Firdous Colony –-, located on Railways property and quite close to the main Railway tracks, have been facing water crisis as their main water supplying line of 4-inch dia, passing underneath a number of houses, had been disconnected but they were not being provided adequate quantity of water through tankers by the Rangers.
Residents of both the localities said that they were not getting sufficient quantity of water each house hardly gets between two and three buckets daily whenever a Rangers’ water tanker arrives in their locality. Landhi Town’s officials also confirmed that only between 15 and 20 tankers are supplying water to both the localities whereas the requirement of the locality is about 100 water tankers per day.
Confirming that the residents of Awami Colony, having around 2,000 housing units, are still exposed to the danger of contaminated water, KWSB managing director, Brig Iftikhar Haider said as a matter of fact residents of almost all the katchi abadis of the metropolis have been facing similar threat as the inhabitants of such abadis have themselves laid the sewerage and water systems in a haphazard manner on self-help basis although the task of providing proper utility services was that of concerned development agencies.
“During a visit to most of katchi abadi of the city, one can see that either sewerage lines have been laid over the water pipes or potable water lines are passing quite close to sewerage lines and manholes,” he remarked.
The KWSB managing director who on Thursday visited Awami Colony, Dawood Challi and Firdous Colony, along with officials, showed newsmen accompanying him a manhole through which two water connections -– one of plastic and another of PVC -– was passing through.
He also took the newsmen to a storm-water drain running parallel to the Colony and through which a number of pipelines of 3” and 2-1/2” dia were passing through. The pipelines which, according to the KWSB officials, had been illegally connected with a 12-inch dia pipeline pass through the colony in Landhi industrial area.
Asked what measures were being taken to provide clean water to residents of both the Dawood Challi and Firdous Challi, he said with a view to provide clean potable water to the residents of both the localities on temporary basis, the KWSB has already started laying a 6-inch-dia PVC pipeline and the residents would start getting clean water through stand-poles to be affixed at every 1000 feet of the pipeline.
However, as a permanent arrangement, the PVC pipeline will be replaced with a steel pipe after some time and the KWSB will set up its camp in the localities for providing water connections from the steel pipeline to houses of both the localities on much below the official rates.
The KWSB senior officers, including deputy managing director (Technical Services), Syed Israr Zaidi, chief engineer (water distribution) Asudomal, chief engineer (sewerage) Khalid Malick were also present.