Sindh govt won’t let water shortage happen in Karachi, says Nasir Shah

Sindh Information and Local Government Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah has said that Karachi is the heart of Sindh and the Sindh government will not let water shortage happen in the city.

Speaking at a press conference at the Bilawal House on Sunday, he said the provincial government had been taking steps to resolve the civic issues of Karachi, including water shortage. The provincial minister claimed that a number of projects were being completed to fulfil the water needs of the city. “It is wrong to assume that water distribution doesn’t take place in Karachi judicially,” he remarked.

He added that merely six water supply hydrants were functional in Karachi and they too were operational in accordance with the directives of the Sindh High Court.

The Sindh government of the Pakistan Peoples Party had eliminated a number of water supply hydrants in the city that had been constructed in the city before the PPP’s regime in the province, he said.

The local government minister alleged that the federal government of the Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had wilfully delayed the completion of the K-IV bulk water supply scheme for Karachi on the pretext of corruption in the project. He said that the inquiries conducted later on found that there was no element of corruption in the project.

Shah also criticised the decision of opening of two flood canals in Punjab when there was overall water shortage in the river system of the country. He said that the opening of flood canals in Punjab was an immoral, illegal, and unconstitutional act.

He was of the view that the Indus River System Authority had yet to fulfil its duty of judicially distributing water in the river system among the provinces. Sindh was still facing water shortage up to 33 per cent, he claimed. The local government minister said farmers had been protesting in the province due to water shortage. He added that damage being done to the agriculture of the province was in fact the loss of the economy of the entire country.