Water war erupts in PA as tensions flood the house

KARACHI: The session of the Sindh Assembly took an ugly turn on Monday as members of Muttahida  Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) engaged in fierce protests against the acute water shortage prevailing in the city, transforming the entire assembly into a scene of shouting slogans and chaos, rendering Question Hour impossible.

Under the chairmanship of Deputy Speaker Anthony Naveed, the session saw unprecedented commotion as legislators belonging to MQM stood up in a bid to raise slogans calling for resumption of water supply in Karachi’s thirsty neighborhoods.

It appeared as if the entire assembly had become a fish market as members of the opposition did not let things move any further until the problem at hand was sorted out.

However, the speaker urged the members to maintain calm and allow proceedings to resume since many other important issues awaited discussion.

But the lawmakers of MQM kept protesting as they believed the people of Karachi were undergoing immense hardships because of increasing heat and acute water shortage in the city.

Ali Khurshidi, leader of the opposition, informed that many localities such as Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Orangi Town were experiencing extreme dearth of water and the citizens were suffering immensely because of it.

"Karachi has turned into Karbala," he remarked, describing the scale of suffering caused by the shortage.

Responding to the criticism, Sindh Minister for Law and Parliamentary Affairs Ziaul Hassan Lanjar urged the opposition not to politicise the issue, maintaining that the provincial government was taking practical measures to improve water distribution across the city.

He, however, acknowledged that Karachi's long-term water needs could not be fulfilled without the completion of the long-delayed K-IV water project and called on the federal government to expedite work on the scheme

The water crisis continued to dominate the session as lawmakers from different parties highlighted civic failures through attention notices.

Jamaat-e-Islami lawmaker Muhammad Farooq raised concerns over worsening sewage conditions in his constituency, while Sindh Local Government Minister Nasir Hussain Shah assured the House that drainage and development projects were underway in several affected areas.