Rains deliver eight months of water to Hub Dam

The Hub Dam received at least eight months of water during the recent rains. Although gradually rising, the reservoir level of the dam is calculated to have reached 302.40 feet, an official of the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) informed The News on Monday.

Built in the outskirts of the city in early 1980s, the rainwater reservoir had almost run dry a couple of weeks ago owing to a lack of rains. Among one of the major sources of water supply to the city, the water level in the dam had reached to a level that authorities were planning on limiting its supply to Lasbella only - an area in Hub Tehsil.

Project director of the Hub Dam, Omar Tariq Khoso, while speaking to The News said the dam had almost run out of water since the area had not received any rains. But last week’s rains supplied the dam with at least eight to nine months of water for both Karachi and Lasbella, he added.

The dam supplied around 100 mgd (million gallons of water per day) to Karachi, while Lasbella is supplied with 50-60 mgd of water for irrigation, drinking and industrial purposes.

‘No breach in canal’

Khoso clarified that there is no breach in the Hub canal, as claimed by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, and that around 50-60 mgd of water is being supplied to Karachi.

As per his claims the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) is trying to blackmail the Hub dam’s administration to get maximum level of water without requesting it in black and white.

“Condition of KWSB’s canal is not satisfactory and we have asked them to repair their canal. Without repairs, we cannot provide them the maximum quota of water,” he said. “When they insisted, we asked them to send us a written request but they refused. Now they are feeding baseless stories to media,” Khoso claimed.