PPP leader holds interim govt, KWSB responsible for ‘worsening’ water crisis

The Pakistan Peoples Party has seriously criticised the caretaker Sindh government and the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board for not taking actions to resolve the worsening situation of Karachi’s persistent water crisis.

In a statement issued on Wednesday, PPP Sindh General Secretary Waqar Mehdi said that the interim government and KWSB had been completely indifferent to the water scarcity in the city which, he claimed, had worsened since the last two months.

The PPP leader said that people were forced to spend around Rs6,000 to Rs10,000 to purchase water from private tanker service, whereas the supply from the official water tanker service had virtually come to a halt.

He said aggrieved citizens facing acute water shortage could not get due relief in case they lodged their complaints at the designated complaint centres as even after the passage of one week, they were unable to get the required water at their households from the official tanker service.

In such a situation, the suffering citizens are left with no option other than to purchase water from private tanker service at exorbitant rates, Mehdi added. He appealed to the chairman of the Supreme Court-mandated Water Commission working in Sindh to take notice of KWSB’s poor performance in supplying water to the residents of Karachi. He added that the water distribution system in various parts of Karachi had been completely ruined in connivance with the officials and staffers of KWSB to fulfill the vested interests of unscrupulous elements.

The PPP leader further said that a survey conducted on an honest basis would expose well the present pathetic state of affairs of the existing water distribution system in the city. In his statement, Mehdi said the incumbent managing director of KWSB had completely failed to revamp the water distribution system as complaints had been pouring in from almost all parts of Karachi regarding severe water shortage persisting there.

The KWSB and caretaker Sindh government have been completely indifferent to all such complaints, said the PPP leader. He added that the present administration of KWSB should be removed and in their place such officials should be appointed who, through their abilities, experience and expertise, could revamp the water distribution system in Karachi on a war-footing basis. The PPP leader further said that steps should be taken on an emergency basis to save the citizens of Karachi from the constant agony of water shortage.