KARACHI, Feb 19: Around 10,000 houses in various localities of Orangi Town went without water for the tenth consecutive day on Wednesday.
Similarly, the residents of Korangi’s Sector 8-A (Bilal Colony), complain that they have been deprived of water for the last 12 days.
Complaints of persisting water shortage have also been received from the residents of North Karachi’s sectors 5-D, 11-A, 11-B and 5-C/3, Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 4 and 4-A and the adjacent Azim Goth and Haji Limo Goth.
The other localities where water supply remained suspended on Wednesday include Garden East, Garden West, Soldier Baazar, Shikarpur Colony, Saddar, Old City Area and Cosmopolitan Society.
These areas went without water on account of the city government’s water and sanitation department’s plan to divert the Indus water to the localities hooked to the Hub dam source.
The hard-hit areas of Orangi Town, which have been without water for the last 10 days, include Nishan Haider Chowk, Pakistan Baazar, Ghausia Baloch Colony, Makhdoom Shah Colony, Aziz Nagar, Warsia Colony and some other parts of Union Council 9.
Expressing her anger over the persisting water shortage, Orangi Town’s UC-9 Nazim, Ms Shehnaz Perveen, says that although their turn of getting the supply comes after every five days, the officials of the city government’s water and sanitation department often fail to release the supply in accordance with their schedule of the supply.
According to her, all the affected localities of the township were last supplied water on Feb 9 (Sunday) and since then their localities have been without water. Their last turn of getting the supply which on Friday last was wasted as a valve sheet near Urdu Chowk had developed some fault.
“The same day I brought the issue of faulty valve to the notice of the W&S department’s chief engineer (water distribution). He assured me that he would get the valve repaired on Saturday, but the valve problem could not be rectified for a couple of days,” The Nazim says.
A councillor of the same union council, Aftab Ahmed, complains that several localities on their turn Residents of Korangi’s Sector 8-A (Bilal Colony) say that their locality’s pipeline, which passes along a storm-water drain, was damaged about 12 days back when the storm-water drain was being cleaned. The executive engineer concerned of the locality has not yet taken measures to repair the damaged portion of the pipeline, despite a umber of complaints lodged.
FILTHY WATER: Dirty water gushing out from some choked gutters has spread on at least two streets of PECHS Block 2, near Tariq Road.
People residing near Tariq Road’s main commercial area complain that a filthy environment prevails in Rows 135 and 136, and in and around the commercial area, the concerned officials seem least interested in rectifying the fault of overflowing gutters.
They have demanded of the city Nazim and the W&S department’s executive district officer to direct the officials concerned to immediately rectify the recurring problem of overflowing gutters.