Water or not, monthly bills a regular for Defence View

KWSB spokesperson says consumers have to pay for the ‘lines’

KARACHI: Muhammad Saleem's house in Defence View Phase II never received any water through the lines of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB). However, the board makes sure that the monthly bills regularly land at his doorstep.

According to the KWSB's spokesperson, Rizwan Ahmed, the utility sends monthly bills for its 'maintenance' charges. "It is not necessary that water should come to your home," he said. "You have to pay the bill for the lines."

On Friday, Saleem received a notice from the KWSB, asking him to pay Rs16,487 to the water and sewerage utility. The notice further carried the warning that in case he fails to pay the amount, his property worth the amount will be confiscated or he will be arrested under the Land Revenue Act, 1967.

According to Saleem, the KWSB has miserably failed to provide water in the entire area for the last eight years. He said that they have been using boring water for washing clothes and utensils. For drinking, cooking and showering purpose, he said, they buy water from the market. "We have to spend a lot of money on water," he said, adding that in order to get their water tanks filled, they also have to obtain water tankers, which cost them thousands of rupees.

He questioned what they should pay the KWSB for when they have to spend so much money on getting water from other sources.  "It's not about the bill," he said. He added that when they are not getting any services, they will not pay the KWSB.

Another resident of the area, Ahsan Almani, told The Express Tribune that water never flows in the KWSB lines in his area. However, he said, they still receive the KWSB's bill every month.

Meanwhile, residents of Gulzar-e-Hijri's Zehra Nagar society in District East have received the same notices from the water board. According to one of the residents, Nadeem Khan, the KWSB has never laid down water lines in the society, neither do they get water from the KWSB. Nevertheless, he said, they still receive regular bills. "Now, we have been asked to pay Rs16,999 to the KWSB," he said, terming it sheer injustice.

'Residents are lying'

Responding to the allegations, KWSB's revenue resource generation department deputy managing director Muhammad Aslam Khan said all the residents are lying. According to him, the water and sewerage utility has been providing water to every house in Defence View Phase II.

He explained that the service charges were not of water alone. "We also provide the sewerage line in the area, for whose maintenance we have to take money from the residents," he said, adding that the rates of the KWSB are Rs144 per yard for a 120-yard house and Rs216 for a ground-plus-one house on the 120-yard space. For plots larger than this the rates are higher, he said.

Presenting a logic of its own kind, Khan said that even if some residents are not getting water from the KWSB, they get it through water tankers and pay as high an amount as Rs1,100 for 1000 gallons of water to them. Meanwhile, he reasoned, the KWSB charges such a minimal cost for the lines, which the residents of Defence View can easily afford. "They should pay that to us," he said. He pointed out that even the well water, which the residents use, belongs to the KWSB.

According to Aslam the total recovery of the KWSB should be Rs800 million while, currently, it is only able to collect Rs580 million. He said that if the residents pay the bills on time, the KWSB can provide better services to them.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 18^th, 2016.