Water tankers stand parked near Safoora Goth. With Karachi’s water woes, much of the city is dependent upon tanker services for water. PHOTO: FILE
Threatening to go on indefinite strike amid the ongoing water crisis, the owners of the city's water tankers have announced to hold a wheel-jam strike on Thursday (today) in protest against corrupt Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) officials.
The water shortage in the metropolis has taken a turn for the worse, making the rates for water tankers rocket up to Rs10,000. Meanwhile, small clashes have broken out at pumping stations in various parts of the city, with one such dispute leaving five persons injured in New Karachi on Tuesday.
"The strike is against the contractors and officials of the KWSB who are stealing water from the board's hydrants," Haji Arshad Mughal, the joint secretary of the Karachi Water Tankers Owners Welfare Association, told The Express Tribune.
He warned that without intervention by the Rangers, the acute shortage of water in the metropolis could not be resolved, adding that the action taken by the KWSB and the provincial government had not solved the crisis.
"We are service providers but people call us the water mafia — they think we are creating the water shortage in Karachi," lamented Mughal. "If the KWSB officials running the hydrants sell us water at such exorbitant rates, how can it be possible for us to sell it at the official rates given by the government? The officials are corrupt but people blame us."
With the city's water woes prevailing for years, most of the metropolis has been forced to rely on tankers for their water supply. While there are unconfirmed reports that there are around 25,000 water tankers serving Karachi's thirst, Mughal said that the registered and unregistered tankers have reached approximately 15,000 in number.
While the water tanker owners have maintained two bodies — the Karachi Water Tankers Owners Welfare Association and the All Karachi Water Tanker Ittihad — to safeguard their interest, both these associations are in agreement about observing a strike on Thursday (today).
"We are not against anyone except the KWSB, which is the main source of corruption that is causing the crisis," claimed All Karachi Water Tanker Ittihad president Tariq Sadozai while talking to The Express Tribune. "Only the Rangers can fix Karachi's water problems."
He added that they had written several letters to the provincial local bodies minister, Sharjeel Inam Memon, and Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, asking them to address the corruption in the KWSB, but to no avail. "This strike is our last resort," said Sadozai. "If they do not take us on-board while addressing the water shortage, we will go on strike indefinitely."
Memon, Siddiqui and KWSB managing director Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi could not be reached for their comments despite several attempts to contact them.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 14th, 2015.
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