Looming public health disaster

The recent federal government report on water quality in different cities has highlighted the abysmal failure of leaders across the country to deliver even the most basic service to their constituents. But while several cities in Gilgit-Baltistan, AJK and the provinces have sub-par water quality, nowhere is the problem as pronounced as in Sindh. About 93% of Karachi's water supply is undrinkable, while Hyderabad at 80% and Sukkur at 67% also had mostly undrinkable water.

But while some cities and provinces - water is a provincial subject - have made underwhelming efforts to try and improve water quality, the Sindh government's apathy can be judged by the fact that the worst water in Pakistan is in Shaheed Benazirabad, the district named after slain former prime minister and PPP leader Benazir Bhutto. The report says 100% of the water in the district is undrinkable. If Sindh's ruling party doesn't care about associating Benazir with poisonous water, it is unsurprising that it has done nothing to improve water quality in the country's commercial capital.

In Karachi, the city administration provides less than half of the city's water needs, forcing millions —including a disproportionate number of poor people - to pay extortionate prices for water tankers. What little water the government does provide is, as discussed, potentially poisonous. And the problem is not just red tape delaying new water projects. Recently, a city official who exposed water theft worth billions by factories in the SITE area, was suspended, allegedly at the behest of compromised anti-water theft officials.

The Karachi and Sindh governments need to defy expectations and make tangible efforts to address the water crisis. The health and prosperity of the city's residents is incumbent on it. The time for action is now, and the well-being of millions of Karachiites hangs in the balance.