Baldia Town residents end sit-in over pumping station promise

Baldia Town residents ended their sit-in outside the office of the managing director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) on Wednesday after winning an assurance that a new pumping station would be built in the town to overcome the persisting water shortage problem there.

KWSB Managing Director Hashim Raza Zaidi informed the protest leaders that the Sindh government under the head of the Annual Development Programme (ADP) had released Rs400 million for the purpose.

He said a pipeline would be laid between Habib Bank Chowrangi in the SITE area and Ghani Chowrangi for a pumping station in Baldia Town. The elected council members were also with the demonstrators. The protest leaders said that for the last many months Baldia Town residents had been without water.

The residents thanked the provincial government and ended their sit-in, which had started in the afternoon. Talking to The News at his office, Zaidi said the new pumping stations would be one of the mega water projects. He said 40 security guards would also be stationed by the KWSB to check theft of water through four main connections.

Due to the recent rain, the Hub Dam water level had risen to 282.9 feet from 276.2 feet. He said the water supply to Karachi from the dam had earlier been stopped, but how 50 to 60 million gallons would be supplied to the city daily.