Water shortage
Residents of Karachi face increased water shortage every summer when the precious commodity is needed more. The city residents anticipate a diminished supply of water in the hot months. Unfortunately, the alarm bell has sounded louder this year, as repair of water supply and sewerage lines in the city has come to a halt for more than a fortnight because of reported delay in clearing the dues of contractors undertaking the repair work. The stalling of the repair work is feared to aggravate the water shortage in the city this summer, as a third of its water supply is estimated to be lost due to pipeline leakages and pilferage.
The water shortage issue is attributable to both natural causes and bad governance. The present problem is said to have been caused by official lethargy. According to media reports, contractors are holding protests on a daily basis outside the offices of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board to press for payment of their dues. With contractors having refused to resume the repair work until they are paid their dues, complaints about water supply problems are mounting at the KWSB. Now that the official, who contractors blame for delaying their payments, has been transferred it is hoped that the contractors will restart the repair works and help people receive a sufficient quantity of water during Ramazan and Eid days.
Karachi gets nearly half of its water requirement – slightly above 6 million gallons of water daily against its need for 1.1 billion mgd. This is highly insufficient considering that annually several million people migrate to the city from other parts of the country. The bulk of the water to Karachi is supplied from the River Indus, Haleji Lake and Hub dam. The last mentioned source depends on rain. In recent years, water supply from the Indus River is said to have reduced due to effects of climate change. Luckily the city has received adequate rainfall over the past several years. This is a silver lining. People expect improved water supply in the city.
Published in The Express Tribune, April 10th, 2022.
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