KARACHI: Residents have been facing a major water crisis which is bound to aggravate during Eid holidays due to excessive use of water for festivities and sacrifices.

Major parts of the metropolis continue to face worsening water shortages as the city that requires over 1,200 million gallons of water daily (MGD) gets only 650MGD.

Besides, line losses and theft also affect the water supply, leaving a large number of people with a severe shortage of water.

Although the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporationannounced that water tanker service will continue during the Eid holidays, people relying on the service will have to take extra precautions to minimise the impact as hardly 15MGD water is supplied throughtankersacrossthecity.

According to the water utility officials, there are over 3,500 registered water tankers which get water from seven hydrants in as many districts of the city for supply to citizens.

The water tankers` operators said that the number of the water tankers supplying water from the hydrants would be remarkably low during the Eid holidays as many tanker drivers had already left for their hometowns for the festival.

Due to persistent water shortages across the city people mostly rely on water tankers. They, however, face a great deal of hardship to get it as the water utility receivemore bookings than the quota of water reserved for each district.

Muhammad Umair, resident of North Karachi, said that he had been trying to get a water tanker for the past three days, but in vain.

`Every time I am told to wait for my turn, which never comes, he lamented.

Residents also complained that the `tanker mafia` did not provide them water tanker on the official price and always overcharged them.

A good number of small pickup, donkey carts and pushcarts, laden with water tanks, are also operating in many densely-populate localities of low-income neighbourhoods and selling water at the prices of their choice.

A mason living in Baldia Town said that the he got water through a pushcart and was using it very economically as he could not afford to pay for a proper watertanker. `I will take bath after a week on Eid day,` he added.

A spokesman for the water utility claimed that the regular water supply and tanker services would continue without interruption during the Eid holidays.

He said that the decision was taken to ensure smooth and timely water supply to citizens during the festive period.

Hydrants Cell In-charge Muhammad Siddig Tunio said that all online booking users would be provided timely delivery of water tankers throughout Eid.

He said all scheduled leaves of tanker drivers and hydrants cell staff had been cancelled to ensure that the service remained fully operational during Eid.

Meanwhile, residents of Azizabad staged a protest against the KWSC for failing to provide water in their locality. -By Tahir Siddiqui