K AR ACH I: Most localities in almost every district are bound to face an acute water shortage as the city will suffer nearly 40 per cent shortfall in the regular supply for the next five days due to repair works set to start on Thursday on two major water supply lines.

The areas where water disruption will occur during the repair included Clifton, Defence Housing Authority, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Lyari, Lines Area, Defence View,AkhtarColony,Garden,Mahmoodabad, PECHS, Nursery, Baloch Colony, Orangi Town, Qasba Colony, Saddar, old city areas, PIB Colony, Hyderabad Colony, Landhi and Korangi.

The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation has advised people to store water in advance and use the commodity carefully as two 84-inch diameter pipelineswould undergo a comprehensive 96-hour repair operation.

A KWSC spokesman said that the water utility had planned a critical repair work on the major supply line in Abdullah Shah Ghazi Goth near Safoora Goth in a proactive move to enhance the city`s water distribution system.

`The 84-inch diameter pipelines, which have been leaking for some time, are now undergoing a comprehensive 96-hour repair operation that will start on Thursday in Ghazi Goth,` he added.

Speaking to Dawn, KWSC Chief Executive Officer Ahmed Ali Siddiqui said that he had instructed the officials concerned to complete the work within 72 hours. `The repair work will be carried out round-the-clock to restore the regular water supply as soon as possible,` he said.

In late February, almost every Karachi districts South, Keamari, West, Korangi, Malir, East and Central had experienced an acute shortage of water for five days when the repair work was carried out on two mains of 48-inch diameter and 54-inch diameter respectively, though the water utility had claimed that the repair work would complete in 72 hours.

In Dec last year, major parts of the city had suffered acute water shortages for at least two weeks after an 84-inch pipeline developed leakages one after another, mainly due to the digging work on the BRT line nearUniversity Road.

As for the leakages in the main line at Gazi Goth, the KWSC spokesman said that the repair work would continue uninterruptedly around-the-clock with teams working in shifts to ensure timely completion.

`The repair is aimed at eliminating leakage and improving water pressure and supply across several localities in the city,` he added.

The spokesman said that once the pipeline was fully repaired and restored, residents in affected areas were expected to see an improvement in daily water availability.

He said that there would be a temporary shortfall of 200 million gallons of water daily (MGD) in the city, which received about 650 million gallons of water daily against its requirement of 1,200 MGD, due to the ongoing repair work.

The water utility spokesman urged citizens to store water and use it carefully during this period to avoid any inconvenience.

He said that the long-term outcome of the repairs would lead to better and more efficient water distribution in the city.

The spokesman said that around 20 MGD water was supplied from hydrants through water tankers.

`The supply from hydrant in Landhi would be affected`, he said adding that the hydrant at Nipa would continue to supply water as it got water from Damloti conduit.