The Karachi Water & Sewerage Board (KWSB) would soon become the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation. An act in this regard has already been passed.
The Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation Act will play an important role in improving the KWSB’s existing performance, said KWSB Managing Director and CEO Engr Syed Sallahuddin Ahmed.
As soon as the act comes into force, they will ensure that the financial recovery of the KWSB is improved. In this regard, a complete list of KWSB defaulters and the procedure for recovery from them has been prepared.
Ahmed said that they are introducing a Digital Complaint Centre for immediate redressal of water- and sewage-related complaints. Apart from this, he announced that facilities are being improved by outsourcing control at town level.
He said that qualified contractors in 26 towns of Karachi will perform their duties under the Karachi Water & Sewerage Corporation. He added that the process of bill recovery will be outsourced at district level to increase revenue.
Various provincial and federal departments are Rs12 billion worth defaulters of the water board. On the other hand, there are arrears of Rs38 billions on the bulk and retail consumers. Once these arrears are cleared, the amount will be given to the KWSB employees first to clear their long-pending dues.
Ahmed was sharing details of the water board’s projects with the media at the North-East Karachi Filter Plant near Saadi Town. KWSB COO Engr Asadullah Khan and other senior officials of the water board were also present on the occasion.
The CEO said that under the latest act, the KWSB has been given special powers to recover arrears from various institutions and individuals, while the poor, slum and suburban residents of the city will be provided with water at a discounted rate.
He said that under the corporation act, separate police stations will be established for the water board, which will help it prevent incidents like water theft and line break among others. He also said that if any employee of the corporation neglects to perform their duties, they will be fined Rs50,000.
If someone diverts the flow of water illegally, they will be fined Rs200,000. Apart from this, a fine of Rs300,000 will be imposed on the person who damages the electric lines of the water supply motors.
A fine of Rs500,000 will be imposed on the person who destroys the water supply pipelines or disturbs their arrangement, while those who disembark animals, bathe them, wash skins, hides or clothes in water supplied to the city, or block drainage lines, they will be fined Rs500,000.
He said that if anyone dismantles water supply valves or damages water meters in the city, they will be fined Rs1 million. Meanwhile, a fine of Rs2 million, along with two years of imprisonment, will be given to the person occupying the water board’s land illegally.
If anyone is found running an illegal hydrant for industrial or commercial purposes, they will be fined Rs5 million and will be given imprisonment of five years.
The CEO said that with the joint cooperation of the Sindh government and the World Bank, modern reforms have been introduced in the KWSB. In this regard, a hydrant portal management has been launched to digitise the operations of hydrant cells, under which the entire system of the cell will be controlled.
In this system all tankers, including drivers, will be registered and given a QR code, from which users will be able to know which hydrant their water tankers come from and what the official rate of the water tanker they receive is.
He said that the main objective of digitising hydrant cells is to give easy access to water tankers. In response to a question, he said that the main objective of the water tankers service is to provide immediate relief to people in need.
He also said that the supply and installation of water flow meters to bulk consumers is being done rapidly. As many as 1,600 large diameter flow meters will be installed in the first phase, while 5,858 small diameter flow meters will be installed in the second phase.
He further said that the construction and maintenance of 36-inch diameter in the Malir riverbed phase-I and phase-III, including 84-inch diameter balance conveyance in K-II and K-III of Karachi Gujjo Canal, and the restoration of water supply and sewerage is being done in Soba Nagar and Goharabad.
He added that their team is replacing the damaged 72-inch diameter PRCC rising main No. 5 from the Dhabeji Pumping Station to Forebay, along with repair/replacement of the damaged sections of the water lines and sewers in different districts of Karachi.
The maintenance of the sewer network in the Teen Hatti, Liaquatabad and Gulberg Town areas will also be done on a priority basis. He said the water board is also doing repair and replacement work of the damaged sections of the KWSB’s water lines and sewers on the Peoples Bus Service routes in different districts of Karachi.
He also said the KWSB is going to launch a fleet management portal in its projects suction and jetting machines as well, in which track systems will be installed in jetting and suction machines so that users could know the current location of the vehicle working.
In addition, he pointed out, the KWSB is geotagging all water valves so that water could be distributed fairly to the citizens. Rehabilitation work of the KWSB headquarters has also been planned.
