KARACHI: Hydrants controlled by rangers to be closed
By Ali Hazrat Bacha
KARACHI, March 19: The Managing Director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, Brigadier Iftikhar Haider, has said all nine hydrants under the control of Pakistan Rangers would be closed once the ongoing work for setting up hydrants in different towns completes.
While briefing the representatives of more than 50 NGOs at the Urban Resource Centre, the managing director said tankers would be registered with towns and bound to supply water to their respective areas. He said this would not only help save roads from destruction owing to tankers movement from one town to another but also bring an end to business of illegal private hydrants.
Mentioning that water policy for the city does not exist at all, he said the recently formed reforms committee would bring about institutional and structural changes aimed at turning the water utility into a service-oriented organisation.
He hoped the committee would help water board overcome a number of problems, including the poor ratio of skilled and technical manpower, lack of governance strategy, ineffective and non-coherent rules and regulations within the organisation, lack of assets management and maintenance policy, unrealistic tariff structure and poor financial management. He said the committee’s proposals would be presented before political leadership, civil society, NGOs and section of consumers before giving them a final shape.
“The KWSB was shackled by legal ambiguity, as 23 different types of rules were being applied because it did not have its own rules and regulation at present,” he remarked. He said the present tariff was notified without any consideration regarding the income group of consumers and stressed the need for rationalisation of the tariff.
About the structural reforms already made in the KWSB, he said the concept of areas-based management system was translated by dividing the city in hydraulically independent zones and making the town management more effective.
He said the board was working in close liaison with the town nazims. Besides, he termed the new policy of monthly bills a success.
