Water scarcity worsens as mere 2-foot rise recorded at Hub Dam

Residents of districts Central, West decry lack of water in pipelines

KARACHI: The drought condition of the Hub Dam has worsened the water situation in District West in general and Baldia Town in particular.

A mere two-foot rise has been recorded at the dam and the shortfall of water in District West is being met by cutting the water supply to District Central, where North Karachi area is badly affected.

Fawad Siddiqui, a resident of North Karachi's sector 11A, told The Express Tribune that they get water twice a month for a mere 12 to 15 hours. "It's very hard to rely on such a small amount of water for an entire month," he lamented. We have to get water tankers every week, which cost us between Rs1,200 and Rs1,500, he said.

A similar tale was told by Sofia Irtiza, a resident of North Karachi. According to her, the last time they had water in their pipelines was two weeks ago. "Most of the time, when the supply of water starts, there is no electricity so we have to start the generators and keep an eye on the water supply," she explained. She added that they are forced to store water in cans in order to use it later.



According to Saleem Shahzad, a resident of New Karachi Town, he does not know where District Central's water is being channeled. Whatever little water supply they are getting is full of silt with a pungent smell, he claimed.



Shahzad said a number of pipelines have leakages and the water supply cannot reach the tail-end. "When we reach out to water board officials they give excuses of shortage of funds and ask us to pay for the repair of leakages on our own," he claimed. He requested that the duration of the supply should be raised so that people can store an ample amount for later use.

Karachi Water and Sewerage Board's chief of the water tank main and bulk water supply circle, Zafar Palijo, said Karachi is currently getting 500 million gallons per day (MGD) of water, which is half of its actual demand. He explained that the drought condition of the Hub Dam has further deteriorated the crisis.

He admitted the water meant for District Central is being channeled to the worst affected area of Baldia Town. "The condition can improve if the water level in the Hub Dam reservoir increases to a sufficient amount," he said.



Hub Dam 

A two-foot rise has been recorded at the Hub Dam during the first phase of the pre-monsoon downpour, according Azam Khan, head of the special project in which KWSB was trying to pump water from the dead level of the dam.

He added that the catchment area of the dam has received a good amount of rain but not enough to raise even two feet of water. "The water in the dam has crossed the dead level, which is 276.20 feet below sea level," he explained.

According to Khan, the water level of the Hub Dam before the rain had reached below its dead level to 274.90 feet below sea level, whereas the current level is slightly above its dead level at 276.75 feet recorded at 8am on Friday. "However, we are hopeful that the catchment area of the dam will receive more rain in July so that the water level can rise."

According to Palijo, the level of water in the dam since the first shower was increasing by one inch every four hours. "We are in a position to pump around 30 MGD of water from the dam for District West for a few months now," he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 2^nd, 2016.