KARACHI: Over 300 members of the elite of the metropolis are in for a shock as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) on Tuesday announced the abolishment of the free water tanker service that they had been availing for a long time.

According to sources, none of the recipients were poor and all of them not only were highly influential, but also live in upscale residential areas, including Defence Housing Authority, Clifton etc.

The sources said that earlier the list of free water tanlcer service users was long however, it had been slashed some time back to between 200 and 300 tankers daily. On Tuesday the free service has been abolished.

Free tanker service for water scarce areas would however continue,the sources added.

Responding to Dawn queries, KWSB managing director Misbahuddin Farid said that offhand he could not remember the names of the people availing themselves with the gratis drinking water but they included senior government officials, bureaucrats and functionaries, public representatives, organisations such as banks, media houses, etc.

He said that earlier, the KWSB used to provide between 500 and 600 free tankers daily. He then held meetings with those getting free tanlcers and told them that when they were paying utility bills like electricity, which cost relatively more, they could easily purchase the water, which costs relatively less.

He said that the city was facing severe water shortages and the water tankers that were provided free of charge would now be available through the General Public Tanker Service at government rates, which are Rs1,000 for a 1,000 gallon tanker, Rs1,300 for a 2,000 gallon tanker, and Rs1,700 for a 3,000 gallon tanker.

The KWSB chief said that the free water tanker service ordered some time back by the chief minister for water scarce areas of the metropolis, keeping in view the heat wave and holy month Ramazan, would continue, but now that the weather had turned pleasant the number of tankers would be reduced.