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Thursday March 28, 2024

Water becomes scarcer as power cuts cripple supply

LG minister, KWSB chief threaten to take KE to court over unannounced outages at pumping stations

By Fasahat Mohiuddin
May 08, 2015
Karachi
Water became scarcer in the city on Thursday when unannounced power outages at the pumping stations caused the supply to drop by almost 50 percent.
The city, which needs 1,000 million gallons daily, received 450mgd less even after the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) claimed it had restarted supplying water from the Dhabeji pumping station after repairing a pipeline 72 inches in diameter, which had burst due to pressure caused by electricity cuts.
In low-income areas, people carrying jerrycans searched in vain for tap water in the sweltering heat. Even residents in high-income neighbourhoods failed to buy water as hydrants received little water and tanker operators were overwhelmed with orders.
At a hydrant in Khudadad Colony, a citizen, Aamir Khan, told The News that 1,000 gallons of water was selling at Rs2,500 against Rs1,300 fixed by the KWSB.
Ashraf Siddiqi, a resident of North Nazimabad, said he paid a tanker Rs5,000 for 3,000 gallons. He complained that tanker owners were openly violating the government rates.
In Defence and Clifton areas, residents said they were paying up to Rs9,000 for 3,000 gallons.

KWSB blames KE
KWSB Managing Director Hashim Raza Zaidi said the board reserved the right to file a contempt of court case against K-Electric (KE) for causing the acute water shortage in the metropolis.
In a statement, he said KE had been violating Sindh High Court orders by resorting to electricity cuts at all pumping stations since May 5.
Zaidi said his utility had told KE that its action was tantamount to committing contempt of court. Due to the unannounced power disconnection, the KWSB machinery had suffered a great loss, he said.

Minister warns of action
Sindh Minister for Local Government Sharjeel Inam Memon admitted the crisis was deepening because of the continuing “unannounced and announced loadshedding” at the water pumping stations.
Talking to The News, he said Karachi’s requirement was 1,000mgd, but it was getting only 550mgd, while the city was not receiving 100mgd from the Hub canal due to less rainfall.
Despite the payment of Rs4.40 billion to KE, the power utility was not supplying electricity to the pumping stations uninterruptedly, he said. Memon said the government would take K-Electric to court for violating the high court orders.
He said a committee, headed by Karachi commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqi, was monitoring the water distribution in the city.
When his attention was drawn to the tanker mafia charging higher rates, the minister said people should lodge complaints at the commissioner’s office and the KWSB complaint centre.

KE refutes charges
A K-Electric spokesman claimed that his utility had stopped loadshedding to the pumping stations after receiving its dues.
A day earlier, the power utility had admitted resorting to loadshedding at the pumping stations, saying that the KWSB owed it Rs36 billion.

Commissioner steps in
Commissioner Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqi said he saw no justification for any electricity cuts after the payment of dues to K-Electric.
He said he had written a letter to the power utility, warning of lawful action. He also contacted the chief executive officer (CEO) of KE and directed that outages at the pumping stations be stopped immediately.

PTI slams government
The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf has slammed the Sindh government and the MQM for the water crisis persisting in the city.
The party’s city president, Ali Zaidi, said the negligence shown by the Sindh government in this matter borders on criminal as the shortfall had not occurred overnight. “The PPP government hasn’t taken notice of this problem over the past seven years. Karachi has been receiving around 550 million gallons per day for the most part, although the demand is around 1,000mgd,” said Zaidi.
He also pointed out that the tanker and hydrant mafias were exacerbating the water crisis and that the Sindh government should show some political will to tackle these issues.
“There are an estimated 125 illegal hydrants throughout the city, while the number of legal hydrants is only 20. The presence of illegal hydrants cannot be possible without the collusion of corrupt KWSB officials and police. The government must crackdown on all such officials and, if required, engage the Rangers for assistance.”