Water Board’s inefficiency aggravates city’s water crisis

Two landmark projects to increase supply in the city have been delayed for years now

KARACHI:

Despite the upsurge in Karachi’s headcount there has been no focus on completing projects that will ensure a consistent supply of water to the city’s populace, for more than a decade now. The incumbent government of the Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) has been in power in Sindh for about 14 years but the last project of increasing the water supply to Karachi was completed by the city government in place during the tenure of the former president Pervez Musharraf.

In 2010, the city government’s tenure expired and the Water Board was taken over by the Sindh government, after which the Board’s performance has deteriorated. This is evidenced by the fact that the Board started two major water supply projects in 2016, one for the water supply of 260 million gallons per day (MGD) and another for the supply of 65 MGD but both have been delayed numerous times since their inception.

Consequently, the demand of roughly 1,200 MGD of water for Karachi’s population of more than 16 million, is not being met as only 420 MGD of water is being supplied at the moment. An official of the Water Board privy to the matter, while talking to the Express Tribune under the condition of anonymity, said that negligence on part of the Board and incapacity has resulted in the city’s current water crisis. “650 MGD through Keenjhar Lake is the quota that has been approved by the Board for Karachi but due to a lack of capacity in the canal system only 520 MGD can be provided,” the official informed.

He further said that 100 MGD of water is supposed to be supplied to the city from the Hub Dam but only 80 MGD of water reaches the city due to the poor canal system. “Hence, the inattention to the canal system coupled with water theft results in Karachi being deprived of 180 MGD of water. Resultantly, the city’s populace has to make do with 420 MGD of water.”

Meanwhile, The Express Tribune also learnt that K-IV project meant to supply 260 MGD of water to Karachi, was to be completed in 2018 at a cost of Rs25.5 billion; however, only 15% of development work had been completed by 2019, when work on the project was stopped. Similarly, the work on the 65 MGD water supply project was delayed for 6 years and has been at a complete standstill since the past 3 years.

It is pertinent to mention that back in 2021, the former prime minister Imran Khan’s government handed these projects over to Water & Power Development Authority (WAPDA), who disregarded the development work done already and started afresh by preparing a new design for the projects. While it remains to be seen when WAPDA will complete the projects, Dr Syed Nawaz-Ul-Huda, a regional planner based in the city, was of the view that all political parties had failed Karachi.

“If the K-IV project was completed in time, billions in taxpayer money would have been saved and Karachi would not have a water crisis,” Dr Huda remarked, adding that even the 65 MGD water supply project was a normal project but due to the incompetence of the PPP it has met delays. “The PPP government has even failed to control water theft. So now along with the water crisis, we have also been subjected to the tanker mafia,” Dr Huda regretted while talking to The Express Tribune.