SHC issues notice to KWSB MD

Author: By Yousaf Katpar

KARACHI: The Sindh High Court issued notices to the provincial home secretary, Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s managing director, and other respondents to file their respective replies to a petition seeking dismantling of a water hydrant in the city’s Lyari area.

A division bench headed by Justice Nadeem Akhtar was hearing the petition filed by Ali Dad who approached the court regarding water utility and the failure to supply potable water to the residents of Lyari’s Muhammadi Colony.

The petitioner, a resident of the area, alleged that the water utility had allowed some private respondents to construct a water hydrant and lay down infrastructure in the area to supply water. The water hydrant was stealing water from the main supply lines of the area, he alleged.

Before the construction of the hydrant, he said, water supply had been regular, though it remained scanty for a long time yet it met daily requirement of the inhabitants.

He complained to the judges that water supply had been abruptly stopped through the KWSB’s supply lines. When inquired, he was told to get water from the hydrant. The hydrant’s owner demanded Rs5000 fee for fresh connections, he added.

The petitioner lamented that the residents had been deprived of their basic necessity of life. The residents approached the union committee’s chairman to have their problem resolved, but he did not take any step.

They had complained to the water utility’s top officers but their complain fell on deaf ears. Besides, he said, the residents had written to the deputy commissioner and assistant commissioner but all to no avail.

The petitioner, therefore, pleaded the judges to declare that the hydrant had been constructed unlawfully and was in violation of the civic laws. The court was further requested to order the authorities concerned to dismantle the water hydrant.

Meanwhile, the bench also asked a litigant to satisfy it with regard to maintainability of the petition against closure of a hydrant in a Garden area.

Petitioner Shehzad Khan submitted that they had acquired Garden water hydrant through an action in 2010 after they had fulfilled all the required formalities and had made the payment of the fee.

However, he told the court that the KWSB had unlawfully closed his hydrant on Sept 20, 2016 without any plausible reason. He requested the court to direct it to allow him to run the hydrant.