Water woes: A tale of two islands

Having no sweet water source, Baba and Bhit islands depend on hydrant at Native Jetty Bridge.

KARACHI: The Baba and Bhit twin islands, located near Keamari, do not have a sweet water source. The sole lifeline of residents of the two masses of land is a water hydrant under the Native Jetty Bridge.

The hydrant, which runs parallel to the old, rusty railway line, was established in the second tenure of slain prime minister Benazir Bhutto to facilitate the population of Baba and Bhit daily except for on Mondays. It has two separate lines for the two islands. The islanders, who have taken upon themselves to fetch sweet water and sell it to their neighbours, leave at 4am every day to make their way to the hydrant on their small motorboats, locally called 'dhoondas'. Water supply from the hydrant begins at around 5am and continues till 1pm. Those who get the first turn usually manage to make another trip to the hydrant and earn double that day.

 

Fifty-five-year-old Muhammad Qasim, a resident of Bhit Island, speaks to The Express Tribune as he waits for his turn at the hydrant. He owns a dhoonda with the smallest tank that has a capacity of 30 drums of water. He explains that after filling his tank, in 15 to 20 minutes, he heads back to the island where the water is transferred into drums with the help of a pump. Each drum, according to him, has a capacity of 210 litres, and is sold for Rs70 each. "At times, it depends to whom we are selling the water," says Qasim. "But if a widow or an unemployed person is buying water from us, we can fill their entire drum for Rs30 and sometimes for free."

According to Qasim, the total number of dhoondas for both the islands that fetch sweet water from the mainland to Baba and Bhit is more or less 40. Talking about the system of taking turns, he says that a draw takes place each night for the next day. He recalls that he got the first turn some three months back and that proved to be a lucky day as he visited the hydrant twice and earned double the amount he usually gets on a single turn.

Qasim also remembers the day when his turn was 18th and by the time he came to fill his tank, the water had stopped coming from the hydrant. He says that it takes half an hour to reach the hydrant from Bhit Island, another hour to wait for one's turn and then 15 to 20 minutes to get the tank filled with water. Then, it takes another half an hour to return to the island and yet an hour more to empty the water from the tank.

Abdul Shakoor, another islander who supplies water to the residents of Bhit and to the fishing boats, believes that the cost to fetch water is getting higher each day. He complains how, at times, they have to return without any water if there is a power breakdown or if there is some issue with the pipeline. "If we don't supply potable water for a few days, the residents of the islands will be unable to cook their food or drink water," he says. Shakoor said there is a pipeline that was provided by former mayor Mustafa Kamal to cater to the islanders' sweet water needs. However, the pipeline, which runs through the tail-end areas such as Mauripur, is not enough even for the residents of Karachi, let alone providing any respite to the islanders.

According to him, a new water hydrant will be the permanent solution for the sweet water requirement of the 17,000 and 14,000 respective populations of Baba and Bhit islands.

Muhammad Farooq, a resident of Baba Island, says there is no draw system for getting turns for the dhoondas of Baba Island.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 16^th, 2016.