KARACHI, July 25: Water supply from the Hub dam source has sharply dwindled from 38 million gallons of water per day to a mere 12.5 mgd, after the water level in the dam’s reservoir on Thursday went down to only 280 R-L (Reservoir Level), which is only four feet away from touching the dead level.
According to the KWSB officials, Wapda under an agreement is bound to provide 38 mgd water to Karachi and 22 mgd to Balochistan, but the Hub water level has posed a serious problem.
The KWSB officials fear that the water supply to the metropolis from the Hub source might come to an end in the next 35-40 days if the dam’s catchment area remains dry in the current monsoon season.
The water supply to Surjani Township has already been cut off from the Hub source on Wednesday, while other townships including Orangi, Baldia and North Karachi are facing a water crisis in the wake of the problem in the supply from the Hub dam.
PUMPING STOPPED: At a time when the water supply from the Hub source has been considerably reduced, the frequent power failure at the KWSB’s North-East Karachi (K-2) and the Hub pumping stations on Thursday caused a shortfall of around 11 mgd.
According to the KWSB officials, pumping of water from the North-East Karachi (K-2) pumping station got suspended twice on Thursday — from 8.10 am to 8.30 am and from 9.45 am to 11.30 am — and at Hub pumping station from 5.45 am to 11.40 am.
Asked about the impact of the 11-mgd shortfall, the KWSB officials said that most localities of former districts central and west would either go dry or receive scant supply on Friday.
The water supply to the city from the Hub source had come to a halt in July 2000 and was only resumed on Aug 22, 2001, when the water level in the Hub reservoir had considerably improved after its catchment areas had received rains.
MEETING: Perturbed by the sharp decline in the Hub dam’s water level, the officials of the KWSB and Wapda are meeting here on Friday at the KWSB’s 9th-Mile office at 5 pm to know the ground realities and chalk out some emergency plan for meeting the water requirement of the townships of Orangi, Baldia, Surjani and North Karachi, which are hooked to the Hub source.
Admitting that the KWSB has so far taken no measures to meet the water requirements of the localities hooked to the Hub source, an official of the board said: “The ‘Awami’ tanks which the KWSB built in 1999-2000 under its water management crisis programme, when the Hub dam had earlier gone dry, have become redundant and a huge amount is required to clean and repair them. Besides considerable time will be consumed in doing so”.
MUDDY WATER: Various parts of the city continued to receive turbid water for the third consecutive day, giving rise to stomach ailments in the affected localities. Doctors have repeatedly advised the citizens to boil the muddy water before consuming to avoid falling victim to dangerous abdominal diseases.
