HYDERABAD, Jan 13: Water-related violence broke out in different parts of the city as there was no water on two consecutive days of Eid ul Azha.

The people blocked main roads in different localities and lit bonfires to express their anger as they claimed they could not take ablution for Eid prayers.

Protest demonstrations were held in Tando Wali Mohammad, Latifabad-2, Latifabad-7 outside the residence of the district nazim, Talab no-3, cloth market and Phulelli.

They raised slogans against Wasa and HDA, demanding supply of water.

They stated that they were not getting water for last several days.

They said that water tankers were not available with Wasa to ensure supply to their localities while private tanker operators were charging exorbitant rates from them for supply of water.

The managing director of Wasa, Mr Kafeel Ahmed, had notified on January 8 that a central control room had been established in his office and emergency centres in respective divisional offices to remain open from 10am to 10pm during Eidul Azha on January 10 to 12.

The purpose of the emergency control centre was to meet any emergency situation in respect of water supply and sewerage services and to lodge complaints on telephone numbers of Latifabad, Qasimabad and city talukas.

However, these cells did not offer any kind of help to residents.

Officials present there were just telling angry consumers that “they can not do anything because water has not reached our reservoirs”.

This correspondent noticed residents visiting Tulsi Das road water supply and pumping station on Tuesday only to come to know that three was no likelihood of water supply being resumed before Eid.

Wasa authorities at filter plant reduced time period of filtration process which takes four to five hours, yet water provision could not be ensured.

HDA officials said water supply had been restored from the Kotri Barrage on January 10 at 5am and water supply would be ensured at 12pm.

However, it did not happen because people kept chasing private tanker operators to supply water on the first and second day of Eid in absence of normal water supply.

A large number of people burnt tyres at the Cloth market and Talab no-3 area.

Heavy contingent of police and Rangers arrived there to persuade protesters to lift blockade.

But they only ended the protest when district naib nazim Zafar Rajput and City Taluka Nazim Javed Jabbar reached the spot and pacified furious demonstrators.

Residents of Phulelli, Paretabad, Al-Medina, Sehrish Nagar, Hala Naka, Marvi and Bhittai towns and areas of Kotri downstream like Latifabad-4, 10, Hussainabad were badly affected.

Patients in government and private hospital suffered badly due to non-supply of water.

The cleanliness work after sacrifices of animals in commercial plazas and residential areas became main problem for people.

Police had to be deployed at the Thadi Sarak water reservoir to ensure water supply by tankers.

Fire tenders and HDA tankers supplied water only in those areas which were permitted by HDA and district government officials while people were left at the mercy of private tankers who took undue advantage of situation and charged heavily from them for water supply.

The chief engineer of Kotri barrage, Mr Manzoor Sheikh said the irrigation department had released water in combined channel — the main intake point of Wasa — at 5am and in Akram Wah at 10am for water supply.

He said that water was released two days before the annual closure was to end.

“It is the problem related to some internal water distribution management of Wasa which has led to serious water crisis for which irrigation department cannot be blamed”, he said.

Otherwise, he said, water supply would had been released in combined channel at midnight on January 10 and 11.

Wasa managing director claimed that 80 per cent consumers had been supplied normal supply of water on the second day of Eid and only those people took to streets where water did not reach.

He claimed Wasa ensured supply of water from two lagoons which had storage capacity for 10 days and this quantity was used for 15 days.

It may be mentioned that the district government had not been able to prepare a third lagoon of 100 million gallons capacity near two water lagoons which were de-silted on account of non-availability of funds out of Rs120 million, approved by the Sindh governor in 2004 when the city was hit by supply of contaminated water.

This 100-MG capacity lagoon was prepared following desilting of two water tanks.

The capacity of existing two lagoons is 400 MG which actually stores around 300 to 325 MG daily.

In fact this storage could be sufficient for around eight days on rationing basis.

The actual requirement stood at 54MG of filtered water daily.