The water tanker mafia has been blamed squarely for the exasperating water supply shortage in the Defence Housing Authority and affected citizens have called upon the requisite authorities to rectify the situation at the earliest, lest they be forced to resort to other measures.
The issue and the residents’ demands were raised at a press conference at the Karachi Press Club on Tuesday that was addressed by Najeeb Wali, president of the Defence Residents’ Association and former secretary, Saddar Board, Clifton, and Anis Zuberi.
Wali said he and his associates had come out bring to the notice of the media the way their patience was wearing thin with the negligence of the Cantonment Board Clifton (CBC) which, they claimed had the sole responsibility of ensuring equitable supply.
He said that he and his associates had not only met the CBC officials and brought their dilemma to their notice but had also twice demonstrated peacefully in front of the CBC office.
Pointing out the gravity of the situation, he said that the residents of DHA and adjoining areas were being compelled to purchase the commodity at terribly exorbitant rates.
He said that as per press reports, the chief justice of the Supreme Court of Pakistan had ordered immediate closure of all hydrants and had directed supply of water through pipes. However, said Wali, it was saddening to see that even the orders of the highest judicial authority of the country had not been complied with.
The DHA area, he said, was home to the topmost officials in the country, including the chief justice of the Sindh High Court, top political leaders, former president Pervez Musharraf, and a whole lot of others but even they were forced to bank on the tankers for their daily water supply.
They said that it may be pointed out here that the water charges in the Defence were far above what they were in other areas of the city but the cruel irony was that despite these charges, there was no water supply.
They said that in case the CBC found it impossible to perform their allotted duty, then the DHA should step forward and take on the responsibility of mitigating the residents’ water woes to provide relief to the residents who were paying taxes for the commodity without getting it.
They reminded the media that during the 1980-90s decade, the DHA provided ideal civic services to the residents and requested the same for now.
Wali said that being highly educated and accomplished people, they were not in a position to indulge in anything uncivilized or riotous but said that if their earnest demands fell on deaf ears, they would be forced to stage a sit-in in front of the CBC office.
If even that did not succeed, he added, they would have to approach the authorities right at the top, and would not mind if heads had to roll in the process.
