KARACHI, Nov 14: Filthy and unhygienic environment continued to prevail in various parts of Saddar Town, including different blocks of Clifton, old city areas, for the third consecutive day on Sunday as the sewage gushing out from innumerable manholes remained accumulated on major thoroughfares and streets, causing hindrance in the smooth flow of vehicular traffic and immense hardships to pedestrians.Pumping of around 25 million gallons of sewage being generated daily in the old city area, Clifton and several other localities of Saddar Town to the Mehmoodabad Sewage Treatment Plant (STP-2) had come to an abrupt halt on Thursday following the devastating blast at a CID office in Civil Lines that destroyed the adjacent Clifton Pumping Station (CPS).
However, despite a passage of three days the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board could not make any alternative arrangements till Sunday for pumping out 25mgd sewage of Saddar Town. As a result, the sewage coming out from chocked and overflowing manholes not only polluted the environment but also causing obstacles in the flow of vehicular traffic.
Meanwhile, sources in the KWSB told Dawn that the filthy atmosphere in different parts of Saddar Town would continue to persist till Tuesday as it would take two more days to operate four trolley-mounted pumps, which it had acquired for pumping sewage of Saddar town to Medhmoodabad STP.
A visit to Saddar Town on Sunday showed that the sewage gushing out from overflowing gutters still remained stagnant on its various major arteries including Aiwan-i-Sadr Road where the Governor's House and the Muslim Gymkhana are located, parts of Shahrah-i-Liaquat, different streets of Mithadar, Kharadar, Cloth Market, Pakistan Chowk, all around Saddar's Zainab Market, Urdu Bazaar, Tibet Centre, Ratan Talao, near Radio Pakistan; Bhadur Shah Zafar Market, M A Jinnah Road, near Motandas.
All these roads and streets were not only presenting an ugly sight to the passers-by but were forcing motorists to drive through the stagnant sewage and pedestrians to wade through the dirty water, besides posing serious health hazards to the people residing in and around such places.
According to KWSB Chief Engineer (Electrical and Mechanical) Zaheer Abbas, the water utility would be able to pump out around 10mgd sewage to the Mehmoodabad STP by Tuesday when four diesel trolley-mounted pumps — one having capacity of pumping 4,000 gallons sewage per minute and the rest of the three with the combined capacity of pumping 9,000 gallons sewage per minute — would become operational.
Asked why a delay was being caused in making the newly acquired trolley pumps operational, he said these pumps could not be made operational as the erection and manifold works awarded to a private firm was under way at the CPS and the same was expected to be accomplished by Tuesday.
To another question, he said that though the newly acquired pumps would start pumping 10mgd sewage to the treatment plant from Tuesday, the remaining sewage was temporarily being disposed of into the sea by channelising it through a drain, located in the vicinity of the CPS.
Meanwhile, Karachi Administrator Fazal-ur-Rehman has directed the KWSB to take measures for the restoration of the Clifton Pumping Station.
According to a press release issued here on Sunday, he said this while chairing a meeting held here to review the situation.
He said that if immediate measures were not taken then the drainage of sewage in Saddar and adjoining areas would become a big problem. He said that the Sindh government took a serious view of the issue and the governor and the chief minister were monitoring the matter.
The city government claimed that it had installed over 15 pumps to drain sewage from different localities of Saddar Town.