City’s water supply: Land mafia dynamiting hills at Hub reservoir

One-third of the city may be cut off, says water board’s managing director.

KARACHI: Karachi’s water board is desperately battling the land mafia that has started using dynamite in the hills around the Hub reservoir, which could cut off a major portion of the city’s water supply.

“The explosions pose a serious threat to the reservoir and one-third of the city would be disconnected from the water supply,” said Karachi Water and Sewage Board managing director Misbahuddin Farid while talking to The Express Tribune. The reservoir is located at a height of around 350 feet so that water can be easily pumped out.

The men have invaded vacant land over hundreds of acres around the reservoir. They have brought in heavy machinery, excavators, bulldozers and tractors to remove the debris and have been blowing up small hills within its boundary. Once they flatten the land, they are able to demarcate plots for allotment.

“The use of explosives could trigger a major explosion because the water board has a stock of chlorine gas cylinders there,” explained KWSB spokesman Ayub Khanzada.

The area has a 78-inch diameter water supply line in addition to three lines (66 inch diameter) and two rising mains (66 inch diameter) to supply 100 million gallons of water to the west of the city. This includes Orangi, Baldia, Lyari and Surjani towns and Shershah.

Surprisingly, the water board says that this has been going on for two years. The MD said that they haven’t been able to secure the area because this was the police’s responsibility.

He said that they had approached the home department in a letter, but it has yet to receive a response. Some action was recently taken, as a bulldozer was confiscated and two men were arrested and an FIR was registered at the Manghopir police station.

When asked why the KWSB had not taken action against the sale of illegally occupied land, Farid said that the mafia has established housing projects like Chandio Goth, which have been sold one after another under new names. “The reservoir is spread over 800 acres but the land mafia has encroached on 30 per cent of it,” he said.

When contacted, the man in charge of the Hub reservoir, KWSB deputy managing director (technical) Muhammad Ali Palejo, said he could not give any information on the issue as he was ignorant of the situation.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 26^th, 2011.