KARACHI: Frustrated with Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s (KWSB) attitude towards Mohammadi Colony, popularly known as ‘Machhar Colony’, residents have designed a water scheme on self-help basis to supply drinking water to around 2,500 households in the neighbourhood.

The initiative is first of its kind in an area that is home to an estimated 500, 000 people and is one of the largest union councils in Keamari Town.

Since it is a low-income neighbourhood, mostly comprising the Pakhtun and Bengali communities, Mohammadi Colony has largely been ignored by the local government.

‘There are over 15,000 houses in this colony and we have been suffering from an acute water shortage since the inception of this country, but the local government has paid no heed,’ laments Dr. Fazal Rahman, an area activist who originally hails from Swabi in NWFP. ‘That is why we decided it was about time we solved our problems on our own.’

After a local NGO, Indus Earth, helped them conduct a survey of the locality, activists received approval for the scheme from the town nazim and a pipeline measuring 2,600 feet was laid within weeks. ‘Each household that would benefit from the new pipeline contributed Rs 350.’

Earlier, during the tenure of former mayor Farooq Sattar, when the plan for a primary pipeline was approved by the local government, it took officials almost four years to actually install the line. ‘We didn’t want to risk talking to them again. By now we are all aware of the bureaucratic hurdles so we laid the lines ourselves under the assistance of some experts,’ adds Dr Rahman.

Although Indus Earth suggested they seek the assistance of architects from Orangi Pilot Project (OPP), who have been working in the water and sanitation sector for several years now, the residents went ahead with the digging phase with the help of some technical expertise from the neighbourhood. 'We wanted to avoid any further delay.'

However, despite the installation of this new water line, 75 per cent of the residents of Mohammadi Colony still lack access to potable water and are dependent on water tankers that charge them between Rs 200 and Rs 300 on an hourly basis.

Residents claim that whenever a local contests elections from their neighbourhood, he vows to bring water to their area. But these electoral promises have yet to be fulfilled.

The elected UC Nazim Abdul Shakoor, who belongs to the Bengali community, is one such candidate who says he has sent several requests to the town officials and other senior officials who complain of insufficient funds and turn down his requests.

Most residents Dawn.com spoke to said they would prefer to have water meters installed in their area and pay their bills to the KWSB rather than encouraging the tanker mafia. ‘But the KWSB is not ready to listen to our grievances,’ said resident Muhammad Ali.

Ali’s family comprises 14 members. As the sole breadwinner, he feels it is becoming increasingly difficult for him to spend a considerable portion of his monthly income on water tankers. ‘I pay at least Rs 2,000 per month on average. The amount varies in summers and winters, but if you calculate it adds up to Rs 24,000 annually, which is way more than what the KWSB would charge us for their service. That is why we want the government to be the sole in charge of this utility as happens in other countries.’
 
The residents are also of the opinion that the local government should stay and that officials should focus on doing away with weaknesses in the system. 'Yes it's true that a dictator introduced this system, but that should be no reason to scrap the LG system altogether. If power is devolved in the true sense up to the UC level and funds distributed accordingly, this system can do wonders and every community would benefit. But when officials continue to focus on pocketing all the money there is not much we - as citizens - can do except look for solutions ourselves,' Dr. Rahman said.

Machhar Colony is an area where water scarcity is not the only problem. During the monsoon season, the locality is threatened with floods from the Lyari River – one of the only two rivers in Karachi – that carries rainwater drained into the Arabian Sea. ‘We also sent out requests for the construction of flood barriers, but the plea fell on deaf ears,’ the residents said.

‘In an area riddled with so many problems that the government has ignored for decades, I thought it was about time the people helped themselves,’ says Shahid Khan, CEO Indus Earth, reflecting on the colony's self-help water scheme.