KWSB unable to help Federal B Area locality getting sewage-mixed water

The politics over local bodies in Karachi and the ‘efficiency’ of the KWSB has put the people of the city into jeopardy: not double but a triple one.

First, there is no local LB representative to turn up to, the fecal contamination of potable water is putting their lives at stake and then the KWSB needs money from the residents to fix the problem.

This situation is being confronted by the community living in Fed B Area Block 15, Jamal Manzil, where the fecal contamination through old and leaking water and sewerage pipes has put the community living in nearly 200 houses on the spot.

The harsh reality is that when water conservancy charges are paid, there should be no reason for the residents to pay money to get the work done.

The KWSB consumers who pay the bills too applied “to the office of the relevant Xen KWSB in early February with the request. The Xen office demanded “over Rs1.5 lac for the government work” though it should have been done without cost. “Another lesser amount was also cited to fix a smaller part.”

This looks utterly inhumane to charge money for some official work, being essentially the KWSB’s responsibility to replace the old pipelines that is making the residents of the entire area seriously sick. It seems like holding the entire community hostage: pay up or the work will not be done.

It has turned into a very serious health issue for the hundreds of families living in the nearly 200 houses of the affected area. “One of the residents, Kamal, says: “Children and the elderly are on the edge, regularly needing treatment and medication.”

His neighbour, Hamid, says, “it has also increased needless financial burden as we now have to bear the additional cost of bottled water.”

Sughra says, “The water stinks as if coming straight from the sewer.”

All that the KWSB staff have done is to “only tape up the damaged water line”, but strangely the water continues to drip into the manhole, and that too is sucked into the pipelines. It’s March 13 and there is no help yet.

What KWSB is saying

The KWSB’s spokesman, Rizwan Memon, talking to The News on Saturday, refuted claims of the residents. He said that no official of the KWSB can demand a bribe from citizens and if that’s the case he’ll get it checked.

It is generally members of different political parties who demand bribes from residents facing different problems and defame the water board, he said, adding that the water board runs its affairs through its own resources and tax collection from which it maintains its infrastructure.

The KWSB spokesman held out the assurance that the issue would be resolved at the earliest.