Tanker mafia challenge

Karachi Mayor Murtaza Wahab's newly announced plan to dismantle the city's notorious "tanker mafia" and phase out the city's flailing hydrant-based water distribution system is certainly a daring plan. Whether or not it will work, however, is highly debatable.

Wahab's pledge to close all seven operational water hydrants and replace the corrupt, multi-billion rupee tanker business with a direct pipeline supply is the most ambitious assault on this entrenched crisis in years. But translating the plan into the real world is going to be problematic, to say the least, because of the staggering scale of Karachi's water scarcity and the mafia's deep political roots.

While access to drinkable water is considered a human right, for over 20 million residents of Karachi, it is a luxury that must literally be bought in bulk because of the city government's abject failure to meet demand. The city's official supply of 650 million gallons per day (MGD) is barely half of the 1,200 MGD required, creating space for the tanker mafia, which not only sources its own water but also, according to a recent report, illegally siphons an estimated 41% of the public supply and sells it back to desperate citizens at exorbitant markups. Meanwhile, 48% of households are not even connected to piped infrastructure, making them captive clients for the tanker mafia and posing a big question mark over the possibility of Wahab's proposal actually succeeding.

And we have not even gotten to losses due to the ageing water network - around 35% of piped water is reportedly wasted this way. New water projects keep getting delayed, and their costs keep escalating. The government also can't afford to spend big to ensure projects meet their deadlines. Without investing billions to first repair the network and lay new supply lines, shutting down hydrants will only worsen shortages and public suffering, ultimately strengthening the tanker mafia's grip as the only remaining supplier.