KARACHI, Jan 14: Enraged residents of Lyari Town on Monday took to the streets and lit bonfires on a main thoroughfares in protest against suspension of water supply to many localities.

Mainly youths, the protesters brought old tyres, furniture and wooden planks and set them on fire on different sections of Sheedi Road and the Hasht Chowk to disrupt the flow of vehicular traffic.

Panicked motorists and bikers turned away from the disturbed localities and most of them found an escape route into the narrow streets. The road remained completely blocked for sometime.

All shops and other business concerns in the area were closed amid panic and fear that persisted for hours.

The situation was brought under control by police after the protesters disappeared from the disturbed localities.

Residents of Lyari Town said that water supply to certain areas had been suspended about five days back and their complaints had remained unheeded. The abrupt halt to water supply for nearly a week had created considerable unrest among the poor families which do not have means to store water. The worst-affected appeared to be the residents of Baghdadi and Shah Beg Lane UCs who were already being supplied water on alternate days.

Parts of Chawkiwara union council have also been without water for many days.

“The indefinite suspension of water supplies has made life miserable,” one of the residents of Baghdadi said, adding that most of the households in his area had run out of water even for consumption. “People had already been made to wait for water whole the night for a week,” a man who lives in Shah Beg Lane lamented. He pointed out that he had spent three consecutive nights watching the dried tap at his household. Reports of water shortage have also been received from Daryabad and Khadda union council areas of the town.

It is for the first time that the town is faced with such an acute shortage of water in winter season.