KARACHI, April 21: Protesting against prolonged power failures and persisting water shortage, residents of Pak Colony on Thursday staged a sit-in on main Manghopir Road near Bismillah Hotel, causing suspension of vehicular traffic on other major roads for a couple of hours.

Heavy traffic jams were witnessed in areas surrounding Pak Colony i.e. SITE, Nazimabad and Garden areas when residents of Pak Colony assembled near Bismillah hotel to voice their anger over frequent power failures and acute water shortage in their locality.

Frequent power breakdowns and acute water scarcity assumed an alarming proportions in various parts of the city and the nazims of the affected union councils apprehended that power and water riots might take place in the affected localities if effective measures were not taken to ensure uninterrupted power and water supply before May and June when summer would be at its peak.

A number of parents also rang up Dawn to complain that frequent power failures in their localities were not only creating water shortage problem, but was also affecting performance of their children who are appearing in Class IX and X annual examinations.

Enraged people, including women and children, on Thursday, gathered at Bismillah Hotel and pelted the vehicles with stones and lit bonfires.

They chanted slogans against KESC and the KWSB officials.

Residents of the affected localities complained that they had been experiencing water shortage for the last one week. Frequent power failures of three to four hours duration twice a day have made their life miserable.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers reached the troubled spot to control the situation. The protesters, however, dispersed after assurances by the officials that they would take up the matter with the KESC and KWSB authorities.

Residents of the affected areas said they had lodged a number of complaints with the KWSB officials, no measures have been taken to restore normal supply to Pak Colony and adjoining areas.

A KWSB official said that power failures have been resulting water shortage in Pak Colony and other localities of the city as pumping stations fail to work properly.

“In fact, our schedule of water supply has been affected badly as power failures have become routine and all our requests to KWSB officials to ensure uninterrupted power supply at the pumping stations have, so far, remained unheeded,” the official added.

Complaints of frequent power failures and persisting water shortage have been received from other city areas. Water shortage in North Karachi resulted in an attack by the people on a KWSB office in North Karachi on Wednesaday.

Residents of North Karachi’s sectors 7-D, 11-C/1, 11-C/2, Sir Syed Town and Shadman Town, complained that although they had been experiencing acute water shortage for the last fortnight, KWSB officials concerned have not yet measures to restore normal supply.

Admitting that parts of North Karachi have been facing water shortage, sources in the KWSB attributed it to short supply of water from the Hub Trunk Main system.

The other parts of the city which have been facing water shortage for the last one week or so include Lines Area, different blocks of Clifton, Bath Island, Mithadar, Kharadar, Haquani Chowk, Pakistan Chowk, Ramswami, Bohra Pir, Garden East and West, Mehmoodabad, Manzoor Colony, parts of Malir, Shah Faisal Colony and Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s blocks 13-D/1 and 13-D/2.