SHC orders KWSC to put details of water supply to city, hydrants on website

The Sindh High Court (SHC) has directed the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) to ensure that details of daily water supply in every scheme of Karachi as well as details of hydrants in the city are available on its website.

The direction came recently on a petition of Naureen Nazli seeking a direction for the KWSC for supply of water to her residence situated in Orangi Town. The petitioner submitted that the KWSC had been discriminating against some areas in the distribution of water within its jurisdiction, due to which no water was being provided to the area where she lived on a consistent basis.

A counsel for the KWSC submitted that there was a formula on the basis of which water was being supplied to Karachi, including the locality where the petitioner lived. He submitted that the petitioner had no water connection to her property therefore no water could be supplied to her.

A division bench of the SHC headed by Justice Salahuddin Panhwar after hearing the arguments observed that the KWSC had responsibility under the law to provide water connection to consumers and ensure sustainable delivery of potable water to them.

The high court observed that the water corporation was mandatorily required to ensure the supply of water within its jurisdiction. The bench observed that the website of the KWSC had been examined in which the consumer service data was only available, including quantum of supply of water to the city, till the year 2015.

The high court observed that no information was available after 2015 for the general public on the website. The SHC observed that no information was available with regard to daily supply of water in every scheme of city including Orangi Town, PECHS, SITE, etc., indicating therein the quantity of water being supplied to the locality daily and the exact quantum of water that would be received by each person holding a water connection in the scheme on a daily basis.

The SHC observed that the website should also have the information about the number of hydrants in Karachi that have been issued licences, payment of annual fees, sale price of water by each hydrant and the amount of water provided to each hydrant by the KWSC.

The bench directed the KWSC to ensure that such information shall be made available to the website of the KWSC within three weeks and submit a compliance report.

Regarding the petitioner’s grievance, the high court observed that the petitioner was at liberty to file an application before the relevant authority for obtaining a water connection for her property which shall be considered and decided by the KWSC within two weeks.

Price increase

The SHC also recently issued notices to the Karachi commissioner and others on a petition against an increase in the prices of essential commodities in violation of the government’s fixed prices.

The petitioner, Shamir, submitted that essential commodities, including fruits and vegetables, were being sold in the market at much higher prices in violation of the official price list. The SHC was requested to direct the commissioner to check the prices of such commodities and take necessary legal action.

After the preliminary hearing of the petition, the high court issued notices to the commissioner and others and in the meantime directed the official respondents to ensure that in case of any violation of the price list issued by the commissioner in respect of various commodities, appropriate action may be taken against such persons in accordance with the law and a compliance report may be furnished on the next date of hearing.