KARACHI: Dilapidated infrastructure and failing distribution and supply system of the city is bound to pile miseries on people during the days of Eidul Azha with a widening gap between supply and consumption as more water is used for cooking, cleaning, bathing and sanitation purposes during the religious festival.

While the reports of acute shortage of water kept on pouring from almost every locality of the city, insiders in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board said that it was not possible to fix the problems of short supply mainly due to decades-old infrastructure, parts of its running for over 40 years.

The localities worst-hit by acute shortage of water include the densely populated Orangi Town, Baldia Town, Gadap, North Karachi, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Malir, Landhi, Korangi, Shah Faisal Colony, parts of Clifton under the municipal control of the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation, Lyari etc where residents complain that they get less than 60 per cent of water allotted to them.

The water shortage also persisted in the salubrious parts of the city such as Defence Housing Authority and Clifton, which falls under the administrative and municipal control of the Cantonment Board Clifton, as people said they had no option but to buy water tankers to meet their requirement.

Many accuse KWSB of creating ‘artificial shortage’ on Eid in a bid to boost water tanker business

A water tanker that was earlier available for Rs1,500-Rs2,000 is now cost Rs5,000-Rs5,500.

A KWSB engineer, who did not wish to be named, said that the water board’s dilapidated transmission and distribution system was not capable to cater for the needs of people as it had completed the designated economic life leading to losses of up to 42 per cent.

A resident of Clifton told Dawn that despite regularly paying bills water flowed through the main pipelines in her locality once a week that too for only 10 minutes.

Mansoor Ahmed, a resident of Khokhrapar, said that his area was not getting water supply for weeks and residents had no option but to be fleeced by mushrooming water tanker mafia.

“The water utility can ensure water supply even through the poor distribution and transmission system if its staff worked efficiently and honestly,” he thought.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Block 13-D, Syed Mazhar Ali Shah, said that the water was supplied to the vicinity only once for an hour, that is too in the small hours of the morning. “Like in any other part of the city, you can’t obtain water without using suction pumps, and I get a small quantity at the price of my sleep,” he lamented.

Many residents thought that certain water utility officials from top to bottom were involved in creating an artificial shortage, particularly on the occasions of religious festivals, only to thrive the tanker mafia business.

Bushra Begum, a resident of Malir City, said that she was forced to lessen her use of water due to persistent short supply. “Occasionally, I have to take my clothes to my sister’s house to wash them,” she said and asked what was the use of the water utility if it had continuously failed to ensure required water supply to the city.

Insiders in the water utility said that over 550 million gallons of water a day was fed into the city’s main pumping station at Dhabeji. They said that over 40 per cent of water was either lost or stolen before it reached consumers.

KWSB Chief Executive Officer Syed Salahuddin Ahmed told Dawn that the water utility was making every possible effort to ensure smooth water supply across the city during the Eidul Azha.

He said that all executive engineers and superintending engineers had been directed to remain on duty with their staff during the Eid days keeping in view the hardships of the public.

He said that he would directly monitor the progress of ongoing works for immediate redressal of all complaints.

Published in Dawn, June 29th, 2023