Karachi’s water woes likely to continue without funds

With a population of more than 16 million people and being the industrial hub of Pakistan, Karachi’s ever-growing need for water is one of the most pressing issues that the city has been facing for a long time.

But instead of resolving the problem and adequately investing in water development projects, the priorities of the provincial government seem to lie elsewhere.

For the upcoming fiscal year 2020-21, the Sindh government has only allocated Rs150 million for a 65 MGD excess water project - one that has been considered crucial to meeting the demand for water in the city. The revised PC-I of the project estimated the overall cost of for its completion to be Rs11 billion. However, the government has not approved the plan.

Per sources, owing to a lack of interest on part of the provincial government, as well as the incompetence of some Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) officers, development work on the project has been halted since 2019. With the inadequate allocation of the budget now, the project is destined to be hit with further delays and its completion seems to be a distant reality.

Details available with The Express Tribune revealed that the initial estimated cost of the approved PC-I of the project stood at Rs5.9 billion. After revision, however, the cost was reduced to Rs11 billion which has been pending for approval for the past two years.

The growing population in the metropolis has raised the demand for the water to 1,200 MGD per day. Against that, only 550 MGD of water is supplied to Karachi. What’s more, water theft and leakages in the pipelines cause further loss of water, resulting in the city receiving a total of 406 MGD of water per day - far from enough to sustain the needs of the population as well as the industrial sector.

Sources also revealed that the provincial government merely issued Rs125 million out of a total of Rs500 million allocated for water development in the fiscal year 2019-20, while only Rs150 million were issued from the allocated Rs600 million the year before that.

According to the budget documents, the 65 MGD excess-water project was approved in 2014, while the process of issuing funds began in 2017. The project was scheduled to be completed within 18 months per the initial plan. Despite a span of three years, however, only 15 per cent of the work has so far been done.

In 2018, the former project director said the scheme had to be halted midway because of some technical glitches. As a result, construction and development work could not be resumed for about 10 months. Later, he was transferred and a new director was appointed to oversee the project, after which work was restored. The non-issuance of funds, however, delayed the project.

When approached, a senior official associated with the project, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the funds would soon be reappropriated by the Sindh government.

“We are hoping that with the available funds of Rs125 million, the development work will be resumed next month so that the project could be completed as soon as possible,” he assured.

KWSB managing director Asadullah Khan also said that the board, in collaboration with the government, was employing efforts to improve Karachi’s water supply system.

“We are fully aware of the ongoing water crisis in the city, therefore, work to enhance the Dhabeji Pumping Station’s capacity is underway,” he said. “The reviewed PC-1 has been sent for Sindh government approval and the project will be completed this September to add 40 MGD to the city’s supply.”

Published in The Express Tribune, June 30^th, 2020.