Family loses hope as bodies of drowned teenagers still missing

Sheraz went swimming with friends on June 8, his cousin jumped in two days later

KARACHI: A week after two teenage boys drowned in a water chamber off Super Highway, the family is losing any hope their bodies will be recovered.

Accidental slip

On June 8, Sheraz Baloch, 19, and his friends had gone swimming in a 10-by-10 water chamber of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) , located in Gulshan-e-Mehran near Saadi Town. Two days after he drowned, his 18-year-old cousin, Abdul Wahid Baloch, decided to jump and recover his body. Abdul Wahid is also missing since then. The rescue efforts have entered their seventh day with no progress.

"Please do pray for my son's [Sheraz's] recovery even though he is no more," said the grieving father, Qadir Buksh, while speaking to The Express Tribune. "It is getting too painful for us, especially for his mother, who asks me about him and I have no answer. She wants her beloved son back but I am so unlucky that I cannot give him back to her."



Sheraz was the eldest among six siblings. A resident of Zikri Goth, located nearly one kilometre away from Gulshan-e-Mehran, Sheraz ran a spare parts shop near Toll Plaza on Super Highway.

The day of the incident, the young man had no plans to undertake this adventure. He only agreed because his friends insisted and the scorching sun made the weather unbearable. "I regret it. This happened because of me. I can never forgive myself," sobbed his friend, Obaid Baloch. "Had I not insisted, Sheraz and Wahid would not have drowned."



At around 2pm, Sheraz, Obaid and two other friends got on their motorcycles and rode to the water chamber, which is a small opening into the 84-inch-diameter pipeline of the KWSB, which runs all the way from Dhabeji and supplies water to the entire city. This chamber was one of the three located within a 2km-radius off Super Highway.  There is an iron bar that runs down into the pipeline and young men often hold onto the bars as they bathe inside. Swimming is not possible due to high pressure of the water.

Wednesday's adventure by Sheraz and his friends was not their first time. However, the trip took an unfortunate turn when Sheraz lost his grip on the bars and slipped. "He was just bathing one moment and the next he was gone," said a friend, Ramzan Baloch. "We also don't know what actually happened and how he drowned."

The authorities were alerted and a rescue operation started. A KWSB worker, who was present at the site, called in private divers but to no avail. Later, Edhi and the fire department also sent in their men.



When the rescue teams failed to make any headway in two days, Sheraz's younger cousin, Abdul Wahid decided to take matters into his own hands. In the middle of the night on Friday, he asked his friends to take him to the chamber. He tied a rope around his waist and decided to jump in. He, too, met the same fate as Sheraz.

"Wahid was very close to Sheraz," recalled his father, Nabi Buksh. "He jumped into the chamber when he was disheartened that the rescuers had failed to recover Sheraz dead or alive." Since he knew that none of us will give him permission to do so, he jumped after midnight, said the father overcome with grief.

Since Monday, the Pakistan Navy has also joined the rescue efforts. "We have already searched the 18 kilometres from Gulshan-e-Mehran to Safari Park but did not find them," said a navy diver. "We only have limited access to the chambers and the 84-inch pipeline as we cannot go too deep and the water is gushing at high speed. Even professional divers can lose control and drown."

The local police are also helping in the rescue operation. "We did not find any clue that could suggest that it was a criminal act," said Malir Cantt SHO AD Chaudhry.

Vulnerable chambers

The chambers in which the boys drowned need to be kept open, explained KWSB engineer Muhammad Riaz. "This is a heavy flow of water and we cannot cover these chambers because they need ventilation," he said. "If we covered these chambers completely, there will be airlock due to gases and that will slow down the water flow.

Despite this, the water board usually covers the chambers partially but young men still erect pillars and start bathing, he added.

Water contamination

Riaz explained why it is not possible for them to cut down water supply to the pipeline in order to locate the bodies. "If we stop the water supply, it will take at least 16 hours to bring down the water pressure," he said. "After that, it takes at least three to four days to look around in the long pipeline," he added. "If we stop water supply for five days, the entire city will suffer."

The water board officials are, however, sampling water at various locations but they have yet to find any traces of contamination or human remains.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 15^th, 2016.