KARACHI: Karachi residents took to the streets on University Road to protest the ongoing water and electricity shortage in the PIB Colony area, ARY News reported. The protest, which began due to the lack of essential services, has resulted in the closure of both tracks leading to Hassan Square near the Newtown police station. This has caused significant traffic congestion in surrounding areas.
Separately, a water line leakage in the old Sabzi Mandi area has caused flooding on the road, disrupting traffic flow, as per ARY News. Negotiations between protesters and police officials have so far been unsuccessful, with protesters vowing to continue their protest until their demands for adequate water and electricity supply are met.
Recently, the main line was damaged during work on the BRT project. According to ARY News, despite claims from the Water Corporation that they would resolve the leakages in the lines, the issue remains unaddressed. It is pertinent to mention here that the citizens of Karachi are suffering from a water shortage, as the supply has been severely affected for the past four days in several areas, including Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, and Gulshan-e-Iqbal.
Additionally, the residents of PIB Colony, Garden, Sadar, Ranchore Line, Landhi, Korangi, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Gulistan, Johar and other areas are also facing severe water shortages. The Water Corporation had claimed that the repair work of the lines at 3 different places had been completed but the citizens are still facing a water shortage.
Earlier, power riots erupted in many Karachi areas on October 5, where residents’ protests against the disruption of electric and water supplies to their localities caused severe traffic jams in major parts of the city, piling miseries on commuters who remained stuck on the roads and streets for hours.
Hundreds of vehicles moved bumper-to-bumper at a snail’s pace on a portion of the MA Jinnah Road and Shahrah-i-Quaideen for hours, further leading to traffic jams on the connecting roads and streets, including Preedy Street and Sharea Faisal. The residents of Jacob Lines, including women and children, took to the streets a little after noon in protest against disconnection of power supply in their vicinity and blocked the signal-free Corridor-III from Saddar to Peoples Chowrangi.
The protesters said that K-Electric had disconnected the power supply in their locality three days ago due to non-payment of bills, which they said were excessive and unjustified.