Muhammed Ayoob Shaikh at the KWSB office. — Photo by writer
Karachi receives an inflow of 515 mgd, mainly from two sources — the Indus River and the Hub Dam (a large reservoir built in 1981 on the Hub River). Based on the World Health Organisation’s standard of 55 gallons per capita per day, Karachi’s current water needs are estimated at 1,200 MGD. This translates into a shortfall of more than 685 MGD. “We are unable to meet 55% of our demand,” Shaikh admitted, estimating that by 2030, the demand could reach up to 1,500 MGD.
About face
In 2016, the Supreme Court made a scathing indictment of the water board’s inability to deliver this basic service. Since then, some effort has been made to put the house in order. “We want to run it using the corporate model, primarily to instill accountability and root out corruption,” Shaikh told thethirdpole.net.
Qureshi said the same model has successfully turned around water utilities in Johannesburg, Ho Chi Minh, Manila, Sao Paulo, Durban and Kampala. “For the first time in my life I see light at the end of the tunnel,” added Shaikh. “It is also the last ditch effort to revive KWSB; if we don’t put things right now, it will mean sure death of this institution. This time I see a political will.”
A 2018 World Bank report — Karachi City Diagnostic — has calculated a cost USD 4 billion to normalise the water supply and sewerage services. It also said with 92% of the KWSB budget spent on electricity, salaries and benefits, it was left with little to invest in the system. “KWSB management must often choose among paying salaries, buying fuel, or purchasing spare parts, and defaulting on the electricity bill,” it pointed out.
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Shaikh retorted, “We are not defaulting on our electricity bill as the Sindh government is paying our bills to the extent of PKR 500 million per month. And 55% of the budget goes into salaries and pensions.”
Shaikh also heads the USD 1.6 billion Karachi Water and Sewerage Services Improvement Project (KWSSIP), paid for by the World Bank (40%), Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (40%) and the Government of Sindh (20%). The first USD 100 million phase is for improving the technical capacity of human resources. “Without that, pumping resources into the utility is like putting it in a black hole,” said Shaikh. “We need to correct ourselves first.”
Then there are plans to revive incomplete infrastructure projects, rationalise tariff, make metering effective in Karachi’s industrial zones and install meters in homes. The World Bank report stated that less than half of the registered 1.04 million consumers paid their monthly water bills, with the total outstanding arrears estimated at USD 460 million. The largest defaulters are government institutions and utilities, owing USD 350 million.
Now, consumers are billed on flat rates based on size of plots. The tariff for domestic consumers is as low as PKR 150 per month for a 60 square yard plot and goes up to a maximum of PKR 13,713 per month for plots over 5,000 square yards. Shops pay a fixed PKR 114 per month; laundries, restaurants, hotels, high rises, colleges, schools, clinics and hospitals etc around PKR 313 per 1,000 gallons, if metered.
“After the system’s rehabilitation, household metering, plugging theft and leakages, water supply should get better,” said Shaikh. For the first time, it seems, Karachi has a viable plan.
This article was originally published on The Third Pole and has been reproduced with permission.