ONCE again the all-important debate on Karachi’s diminishing potable water supply is in the media as the Supreme Court hearing the matter has made it a high-profile case.

The facts and figures presented to the media and the honourable court are politically influenced and do not represent the factual position.

The K-IV Water Supply Scheme will not solve the issue and several such schemes will be needed to meet the metropolitan city’s water demand. However, the reasons for the same are not what is advocated openly by some political figures, especially the Pakistan Sarzameen Party leader, Mr Mustafa Kamal.

Mr Kamal has conveniently chosen to ignore the tyranny exercised by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (which had been under him for 4 years) through its openly licensed hydrants that are selling the water which could easily be pumped into the system directly after improving the aging infrastructure. He has also has failed to point out that Bahria Town has acquired and is using a major portion of Karachi’s water resources.

How does the PSP chief explain Bahria Town’s overnight expedition of laying a 30-km 12-inch dia pipeline from Karachi’s already under-stress Dumloti wells from which new connections were barred years ago?

This act could reduce water supply to a large segment of the population. Not only that, despite an embargo, an electricity connection for Bahria Town was sanctioned by K-Electric.

To sum up, the whims of the mighty are the law here in Karachi. Those following proper procedure are being refused connections by the KW&SB. Only technically able participants should participate in debates on water so that people in general and the courts should not be misled.

Rafey A. Siddiqui
Karachi

Published in Dawn, December 17th, 2017