An ongoing inquiry has found that many officials of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) were involved in water theft in the metropolitan city, according to the Managing Director of the Board, Salahuddin, who also said that a departmental report has been prepared against these officials including the executive engineers.
Salahuddin revealed this during a joint press conference with Sector Commander Sachal Rangers Brigadier Kabir at the Pakistan Rangers Headquarters on Tuesday.
Brig Kabir said that a significant part of the operation against illegal hydrants has been completed, and action is now being taken against illegal connections.
"Stolen water was being sold to industrial and domestic consumers at prices two to three times higher than the official rates," he said, adding that the KWSB, in the meantime, was losing billions of rupees every month due to the water theft.
The crackdown against water pilferage was launched on September 17 which targeted the tanker mafia, illegal hydrants, pumping stations, and illegal connections. The operation resulted in major improvement in water supply in various areas. Nonetheless, efforts are underway to ensure that the public fully benefits from the results of the operation.
The water mafia installed 1,200 illegal connections and set up 150 unauthorised hydrants to pilfer water. One hundred million gallons per day (MGD) of water was stolen for commercial and domestic use, causing a loss of about Rs13 billion to KWSB and resulting in supply cutoffs to residents of Baldia, SITE, Keamari, and Lyari.
"Pakistan Rangers Sindh has launched an all-out war on the water mafia in cooperation with the KWSB," Brig Kabir said, adding that illegal hydrants are being dismantled during the operation, while some connections would be regularised after necessary legal formalities. A major method of water theft was through illegal underground freshwater connections or through motors, against which an operation is underway, he said.
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About 20 per cent of the stolen water has been reinstated back into the supply system of the KWSB. Water has been supplied to the end for the first time in Orangi, Qasba Colony, New Karachi, Clifton, Gadap, and Baldia. Along with a two-fold increase in water flow pressure, there has also been a decrease in water supply interruptions and an increase in supply in Surjani, Gadap, and Clifton. Tankers registered with the KWSB will supply water to citizens at the official rate. Citizens may obtain government-rate water by enrolling on the KWSB website.
Following the press conference, MD Salahuddin stated that 196 hydrants have been demolished during the operation against water theft. In the city, 400 illegal connections have been cut off, 125 FIRs registered against water pilferers, and 80 accused taken into custody.
The city presently has seven legal water hydrants. Before the operation, the number of registered tankers of KWSB was 420. Following the shutdown of illegal hydrants, 1,580 tankers have been registered and became part of the KWSB system. KWSB now has 1,900 registered water tankers as a result of the operation. A QR code has been installed on 1,600 bowsers, in the presence of which any tanker supplying water illegally will be caught.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 15th, 2023.
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