KARACHI, June 19: Water shortage persists in parts of Chawkiwara Union Council areas in Lyari Town despite assurances given by the authorities concerned a few days back that the problem has been resolved.
An angry crowd, largely comprising women, on Tuesday stormed the office of Town Nazim Abdul Khalique Juma to protest against water shortage in their localities.
The crowd was violent and it went out of control and broke the glasses of the windows of the head office, in spite of promise by the Nazim that the supply would be improved in a couple of days.
The main source of water supply of the UC is Garden. The affected areas are, Kalakot, Shehshahi locality, Allama Iqbal Colony and Juna Kumarwara.
On Wednesday, the town Nazim admitted that the water shortage problem persisted in Chawkiwara Union Council areas, saying that he had immediately contacted the city Nazim and Karachi Water and Sewerage Board managing director about the situation and called upon them to honour their commitment regarding restoration of old water supply to Lyari Town.
Mr Juma said the city Nazim and the KWSB MD had reiterated that the problem would be resolved in a couple of days as work on restoration of old supply was in full swing.
Several parts of Lyari Town have been facing acute water shortage due to diversion of supplies from the source, which causes loss of three million gallons daily.
KWSB officials said the total supply of water to the town was 13mgd. However, due to diversions and water theft, the town has been facing 3mgd shortage.
The situation had aggravated during the past three months forcing the members of the local bodies to lock their offices in protest.
The mounting pressure of the residents forced the city Nazim and KWSB MD to visit the town and take an on-the-spot view of the water supply position.
Later, a joint press conference of the city Nazim, the MD and Lyari Town Nazim was also held, where it was announced that the problem had been solved as the town would get it’s old share of water supply.
Talking to Dawn, the town Nazim made an impassioned appeal to the KWSB MD to take urgent measures to resolve the issue.
Complaints of shortage of water from Shahbeg Lane Union Council areas were also received. In some areas of the UC, such as Ali Mohammad Mohalla, water is being supplied through tankers.
A long queue of women is still seen in the night waiting for water from the dry lines.
Ali Mohammad Mohalla is the worst affected area in Shahbeg Lane UC so far as the shortage of water is concerned. The locality has been deprived of normal water supply for over a decade.
A number of water riots erupted in the locality in the past forcing the people to stage sit-ins on Mauripur Road, but the situation remained unchanged in the locality.
KEAMARI TOWN: Water shortage also persists in parts of Keamari Town, particularly in villages where drought like situation has existed for the past few years.
Most of the villages in the town depend on ponds and wells for drinking water. Since there have been no rains for the past few years, the water sources have dried up, forcing the people to buy water from private tankers.
The villages in Hawksbay are the worst affected areas in the town, where normal water supply schemes either do not exist or are inoperative for reasons best known to the authorities.