KARACHI, Oct 7: More than 30,000 people inhabiting the islands off the coast of Keamari have been eking out a meagre existence with few utilities for as long as they remember.
A visit to Bhit Island, Baba Island, Kaka Village, Younusabad, Shamspur and Salihabad by Dawn on Friday revealed that these islanders, who are never without brown, gooey gutka, have little or no access to electricity, Sui gas and phone.
On the other hand, for the naval personnel living on Manora — which falls within the jurisdiction of the Karachi Cantonment Board — the government has made available all amenities.
A gas pipeline, supplying Sui gas to Manora, Salihabad and Younusabad, moves away from Kaka Village, Bhit Island and Baba Island.
Zakariya Bibi, a 32-year-old mother of eight children and resident of Baba Island, said the islanders had no alternative but to use kerosene in the absence of Sui gas.
“Poverty-stricken as they are, most fishermen find the kerosene an expensive alternative. As the kerosene has to be shipped to the islands from the city, it becomes even more expensive. Gas cylinders are also fairly costly,” she said.
Seasoned seaman Abdul Hameed, a resident of Salihabad, said that a Sui gas pipeline came near these islands from Mauripur. Knitting his weather-beaten brow, the seaman wondered: “Why can’t some connecting pipelines be obtained from the main pipeline?”
A resident of Kaka Village remarked testily: “Don’t blame us for felling mangrove forests because the kerosene and gas cylinders are prohibitively pricey as far as we are concerned.”
Officials of the Sui Southern Gas Company, however, have a different explanation to offer. “Don’t forget that laying a pipeline under water is a high-technology, expensive exercise. It also requires permission from the Karachi Port Trust and the naval authorities.”
The residents of the islands insist that the naval authorities and the KPT have given the go-ahead to build a gas pipeline to these islands.
A telephone exchange having a phone number 2634668 has only 71 extensions on Baba Island. However, only 45 lines are operational. If a caller is using a line, the remaining 44 people have to wait for him to finish his conversation.
This telephone exchange — having a primitive contact board which has not been renovated since 1995 — closes at 10pm and the islanders are cut off from the rest of the world during the night.
Bhit Island has no telephone exchange and the one at Shamspur was recently closed.
The islanders also complain that the meter readers of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation do not take readings properly. “As a result, we receive inflated bills. The other day a fisherman, who lives in a shack, received a bill of Rs700,000. The poor man uses only two bulbs,” said Dr Yousuf, who was recently elected Nazim of the islands.
He said: “The KESC does not issue a bill for at least one year after installing a new connection. When a person receives a bill after one year, he has to pay high accumulated arrears. This is an unjust practice because most fishermen are too poor to pay a large sum of money.”