Karachi’s water woes

The city generates an estimated 1.8 million cubic meters per day of sewage

KARACHI: The supply network for 2.4 million cubic meters per day water in Karachi is in very poor condition with extremely high leakage and other unaccounted losses while extensive cross-connections with the sewerage system contaminate the supply. Karachi generates an estimated 1.8 million cubic meters per day of sewage.

"This amount indicates high system losses given that typically less than 10% of urban water supplied is consumed," states the report, adding that around 1.6 million cubic meters per day of wastewater is released untreated into the sea or freshwater bodies.



There are three wastewater treatment plants, with a combined capacity of 0.6 million cubic meters per day, of which two are functional and treat 0.2 million cubic meters daily. Thus, around 1.6 million cubic meters per day of wastewater is discharged untreated into the Arabian Sea or freshwaters channels close to Karachi. It finds Karachi's sewerage system, which extends to 5,670 kilometres, very poor.

The report identified the reliance of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) on the Sindh government for funds as a problem. It notes that the incomplete devolution and ambiguous institutional responsibilities cause friction between the provincial and municipal governments in Karachi, occasioning a destabilising influence on the water governance. "... financial support to KWSB has been ad hoc and most often directed toward relieving immediate financial constraints or financing urgent pump station repairs".



The report also criticised the politically motivated hiring of staff in the KWSB. "In the 1980s and 1990s, thousands of employees were hired based on political and ethnic affiliations, laying the foundation for ghost employees at KWSB".

Over-staffing has also been described as a major issue with 6.5 KWSB employees per 1,000 connections, which is more than three times the benchmark staffing ratio for low-income countries. "Poor service, inefficient cost recovery, corruption, and political interference on the one hand and low consumer trust and willingness to pay on the other have led to a decline in the quality and coverage of urban water services in Karachi," states the report.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 9^th, 2019.