No water for Karachi

According to media reports, the present water demand for Karachi is 1,000 million gallons per day (mgd) for a population of 18.93 million whereas the city is being supplied 351mgd. According to WHO, water requirement should be 40 gallons/capita/day (g/c/d) whereas the existing supply is 12.75g/c/d. Karachi receives 645mgd from the Indus River and 75mgd from the Hub Dam. After taking into account the supply to the Pakistan Steel Mills and the PQA, line losses, pilferage, the net supply to Karachi is 351mgd. Its further distribution is 140mgd for non-domestic use and the rest 211mgd for domestic use.
This shows that Karachiites are supplied only one-third of their water needs. This huge gap cannot be filled by supplying water through tankers. KWSB is requested to plan for at least one decade in advance so that the needs of a growing population can be catered for. Did somebody think about this looming water crisis? Why did law-makers in the Sindh Assembly fail to exert pressure on the Sindh government to cope with this crisis? Did somebody recommend installing a desalination plant to meet the demand of 140mgd for non-domestic use in various parts of Karachi? Both the federal and Sindh governments are requested to resolve this serious issue so that the misery of Karachiites can be minimised.
Lt-Cdr (r) R Riaz Akbar
Wah Cantt