How I got my new water connection from KWSB

KARACHI: For the past five years I’ve been doing stories on the Sindh Local Government Department, which also includes the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB). Earlier this year, I applied to the water board for a separate connection for my home, and the agony I had to go through for almost two months to get that connection prompted me to write about it.

Without asking any of my sources for help, I applied for the new connection on January 8. But it was on March 3, a day after I saw KSWB Managing Director Asadullah Khan, that I was able to finally get the new connection. I had initially promised myself that I won’t use my media card to get the connection, but very soon I realised the impossible task I had set for myself.

Around five years ago we had shifted from North Karachi to Gulistan-e-Jauhar into a house constructed by a builder after the bifurcation of a 500-square-yard plot into three. The builder, however, had provided only one water connection for the three houses, due to which we had been facing extreme dearth of water.

On January 8, I submitted an application to the KWSB for a new water connection. The assistant executive engineer (AXEN) of the water board sits in an office without a door. A loose drape hangs at the entrance. Foam sticks out of the torn leather chairs in the office.

The officer told me that since I live on a bifurcated plot, it would be “a little illegal” for him to grant me a new connection, for which he’d need an extra Rs10,000 to move the application forward. I obliged.

On January 20, the AXEN called me to collect the fee payment challan of a little over Rs11,000 and submit it to the HBL’s Sindh Secretariat branch. I did that and waited for about five more days, but I got no response.

On inquiring repeatedly, I was told by a clerk that the relevant executive engineer (XEN) was on leave and that the sanction order needed his signature. The clerk expected me to grease his palm as well. At this point I lost my patience. Then I used my connections to inquire about the legalities of getting a water connection, which I should have done earlier.

The KWSB’s Revenue & Resources Generation Department at the water board’s head office in Karsaz deals with such matters. One of their officers told me that the government rate for ground-plus-one residential plots from 81 to 120 square yards is Rs12,000 and for ground-plus-one residential plots from 121 to 300 square yards is Rs17,817.

The official also told me that separate water connections for bifurcated houses and portions are completely legal and I must not pay any extra money to any KWSB official for the purpose. After that meeting, I got a call from the area’s XEN, who not only was willing to hand over the sanction order but also requested me not to visit the water board’s office any more.

Now another battle ensued. To carry out any road cutting work, a no-objection certificate (NOC) has to be obtained from the respective land owning agency. In my case, it is the Cantonment Board Faisal (CBF). I went to their office on January 30 and, without introducing myself as a reporter, filed an application seeking permission for road cutting and attached the sanction order I had received from the water board.

I was told that their team would visit my house and measure the length of the road that was to be dug, in the light of which I would be issued a challan. Their team visited, but didn’t issue any challan for about 10 days. I was then told that I needed to submit an application and a map for the road cutting issued by the KWSB to the CBF, following which I would be issued a challan for the road cutting.

I visited the water board again, got the application and map promptly because the XEN knew I was a reporter, and submitted them to the CBF. Five days later, I was told that the new CEO of the cantonment board hadn’t taken charge and the additional CEO was on leave, so I would have to wait for another fortnight.

I was left with no other option but to seek help of my cousin who is an army official. The very next day, on February 24, I got not only the challan but also the NOC from the CBF.

Then came the KWSB linemen demanding Rs30,000 and warning me that my neighbours might turn hostile if they see the road being dug up in the area for a new water connection. I met KWSB chief Asadullah Khan on March 2. The very next day, a lineman from some other area showed up to provide me with the water connection.

Had I not been a reporter or had I not used my connections, I would still have been waiting for a new water connection. Now just imagine how much money ordinary citizens without any sources might have to pay to get a water connection.