Raising concerns: PTI leaders warn of upcoming water crisis

Urge provincial govt to arrange for additional water pumps at Dhabeji pumping station


Our Correspondent March 27, 2016
Dr Arif Alvi. PHOTO: FACEBOOK

KARACHI: As fears rise concerning the predicted heatwave in the city this summer, the local leadership of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) has warned the Sindh government of a severe water crisis.

A press conference was held on Sunday at Insaf House regarding the water crisis and was addressed by lawmakers Arif Alvi, Khurram Sher Zaman, Samar Ali Khan and Firdous Shamim Naqvi.

Alvi said he feared that a severe water crisis would result in riots in the city, which could threaten the law and order situation. He explained that the city's water share from River Indus is 550 million gallons per day (MGD), while it is being supplied with only 420MGD. The Hub Dam also supplies 100MGD of water to the city, he added.

He criticised the Sindh government, saying that their only interest is to earn from the city but not to serve it. Alvi added that they have raised this issue everywhere but it seems that the government has decided to ignore the voices of PTI lawmakers.

"We once again propose two standby pumps be arranged at Pipri, with each pumping 13MGD, while four new pumps should be purchased for Dhabeji, each having a capacity of 25MGD," he advised, adding that the electric supply line to the Dhabeji pumping station should be shifted above ground, since the underground electric supply line often experiences outages due to water seepage. According to Alvi, due to the disruption of electricity, around 400MGD of water is wasted.

"It is sad to see that the hydrants that were closed earlier have resumed their illegal operations in the city," he lamented, criticising the water board officials for protecting the 'hydrant mafia'.

Alvi, while responding to a question about Mustafa Kamal, said his allegations are 20 years old and every child of the city is aware of them. He speculated if the act of blaming MQM chief Altaf Hussain for everything was a cover-up to absolve others of the same crimes.

He opposed Kamal’s demand of an amnesty for criminal workers.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 28th,  2016.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ