Raising water tariff by 30pc totally unacceptable, says JI city chief

Jamaat-e-Islami Karachi chief Munem Zafar has expressed grave concerns over the prevailing water crisis and the alleged failure of the Pakistan Peoples Party’s (PPP) Sindh government, the “self-imposed” city mayor and the water corporation in addressing it.

Zafar censured the PPP over the crisis and held their government responsible for the prevailing situation because it has been ruling the province for over 15 years. He demanded that the government, the mayor and the water utility act decisively to resolve the crisis before it is too late, as the daily protests in various areas of the city are proof enough of the level of unrest.

He recalled that the JI’s then mayor Abdul Sattar Afghani had completed the K-I and K-II water supply projects, while Naimatullah Khan had completed the K-III project and initiated K-IV to meet the city’s future needs.

He said that the successive governments put the K-IV project on the back burner. As a result, he added, the people of Karachi have been facing scarcity of water. He demanded that the authorities complete the K-IV project in accordance with its original specifications, along with reforming the entire water supply network and mechanism in Karachi.

Zafar said that on the one hand Karachiites have been facing acute water shortage in pipelines because of flawed policies, deteriorated network and deep rooted corruption, while on the other, the PPP government has been mulling over increasing the water tariff by 30 per cent. That is totally unacceptable, he stressed.