Water crisis: As suburban residents dig deeper, the city’s water base plummets

Malir loses its agriculture produce as the wells dry up.

KARACHI:

Many people who live in Karachi’s rural suburbs prefer to dig wells for their homes instead of dealing with the water board and lineman to get a regular supply.

According to experts, however, this has had an effect on the city’s undergroud resources. The subsoil of the city loses its natural water reservoir, the aquifer, especially in New Karachi, Orangi Town and Baldia Town.

We are depleting the aquifer at the speed of a rocket, which is insulting the ecology of the nature, according to Tofiq Pasha, an expert on water sciences. “The process of sucking subsoil water for human and agricultural use is not a healthy sign,” he told The Express Tribune.

Wells are not the problem as such, he hastens to add. There are thousands of them across the country but the amount of water drawn from them is proportional to the quantity replaced by, for example, rainfall, he argued. Karachi, on the other hand, may lose its water base forever as it doesn’t rain here regularly. The aquifer is a natural water reservoir in the soil and takes millions of years to develop. It is nature’s plan to create balance, which is being ruined by humans, he said.

Pasha was upset at the way subsoil water is drawn and used. The devastating impact of this practice can be observed in Malir district. According to him, Malir was famous for producing fresh vegetables and fruits but the agricultural land was solely dependent on subsoil water. Today, almost all the wells in the area have dried up and it no longer produces the same amount of vegetables and fruits, he said.

In neighbourhoods where wells are common, self-trained entrepreneurs wander around the streets offering their services. The digging process takes around two to four days and water is drawn at a depth of 20 to 50 feet, depending on the conditions of the soil. The total cost of digging a well, along with a pipe fittings and a suction pump, comes around to Rs25,000. The flow of water is almost constant. Usually, neighbours get together to share a well since the cost of installing one is quite high. But perhaps the long-terms costs are even higher.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 22^nd, 2011.