KARACHI, May 30: The serious deadlock which had developed between Lyari Town and the KWSB authorities about 12 days ago has been cleared in a meeting chaired by the City Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, here on Thursday.

The meeting was held in the City Government Secretariat, participated by members of the water committee of the City Council, namely Muslim Pervaiz, DCO Karachi, Shafiqur Rehman Paracha; MD KWSB, Brig Behram Khan; Chief Engineer (Water), Khalid Malik; Chief Engineer (Sewerage) along with a number of KWSB officers.

The delegation from Lyari Town consisted of about 40 members, including Nazim, Abdul Khaliq Juma; Nazims of UCs, most of the elected representatives of Lyari, representatives of NGOs and women councillors.

The main point of controversy was water supply to the Town. The KWSB maintained that they are supplying 13mgd, while the Town authorities insisted that about 8mgd is being supplied to Lyari Town, and that the remaining water is being supplied to the neighbouring Towns of SITE, Keamari and Saddar.

After a heated discussion which continued for more than an hour, the City Nazim and DCO intervened and presented a formula that was accepted by both the parties.

It was decided that the old system of water supply to Lyari Town areas which was applied prior to Aug 11, 2001, will be restored and elected representatives will monitor the pump and valve operation process.

Naimatullah Khan announced that he would visit the area after a week to personally witness the progress, while the KWSB authorities took assurances from the Town delegation that safety and security of their employees will be guaranteed by the residents.

It was also decided that the XEN will sit at Bihar Colony pump on all working

days, between 10am to 12 noon, and all the equipment at the five water pumps, includ-

ing motors, would be repaired within a few days and their dai-ly workings will be observed by the elected representatives.

All sides agreed to give this formula a chance in the hope to find a permanent solution to the Lyari water crisis.

Demo: Residents of Lyari on Thursday staged a demonstration in front of Karachi Press Club in protest against the water shortage in their town.

Participants of the demonstration organized by Pasban chanted slogans against the failure of the government in supplying water to their locality. Speaking on the occasion, the organizers held the Town Nazim and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board KWSB responsible for the water shortage.

They demanded replacement of 40 horsepower pumps with new 80 horsepower pumps at the Lea Market pumping station as old pumps lack enough capacity to fulfil the requirement of the residents of various localities of Lyari including Edo Lane, Gul Mohammed Lane, Guman Shah Plat. President Lyari Zone, Pasban, Altaf Agra also spoke on the occasion. —PPI