KARACHI: The coronavirus pandemic has come as a blessing in disguise for the water starved-residents of Karachi. If the lockdown continues through Ramazan, the city may not see protests, a yearly phenomenon, as days get hotter in the coming weeks.

“With commercial activity at a standstill and industries closed, domestic supply got better,” said an inside source at the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board, requesting anonymity. Almost 100 million gallons per day (mgd) of 550mgd is now all being diverted for domestic use.

Even the tankers seem to have disappeared from the roads, although the water board insists the tankers distribute not more than 12-13mgd. “Our tanker service is operational, but it is much easier for residents to get the tankers these days as there is a ban on commercial supply from tankers for the time being and all tanker service is kept available for the domestic user,” said the KWSB spokesperson, adding that they closed it to minimise crowding at the hydrants.

But he said these unusual circumstances are masking the gravity of the water crisis. The actual demand for Karachi is 1,200mgd which means there is a shortfall of 650mgd. Admitting the government was unable to meet 55 per cent of the city’s demand, he estimated that by 2030, the demand could reach up to 1,500mgd.

But inside the KWSB, the situation is rather grim. “We are going through a serious existential financial crisis,” said the source from the board. “Our revenue has dipped enormously as two-thirds of it was coming from the industrial and commercial consumers, but now their meters are showing negligible consumption. Only one-third of the more than one million domestic consumers pay their water bills and the recovery ratio is dismally low, he said and remarked that the paying consumers were unlikely to be able to pay the KWSB bills owing to the lockdown and the financial crisis they may be in.

“Wilful or otherwise, our system is such that we cannot withdraw our service from them as it would cost us more to do that,” he lamented. In any case, they do not intend to take any such measures at a time when water and soap are considered necessary weapons against Covid-19.

But if this continues and they do not receive any relief package from the provincial government, they may not be able to survive any longer or pay April’s salaries to the over 11,000 staff. “Monthly we pay Rs600 million just for salaries and pension to those on our roll,” he said.

In addition, empty coffers mean severe operational issues. “The quality of service will be compromised if we do not have money to buy essential supplies like chlorine, fuel for our vehicles, or to get our machines repaired. It may be difficult to keep our secondary or tertiary pumping stations operational.” He also feared that because there was no timeframe attached to the lockdown, many projects that were in the pipeline may either get delayed or not take off at all if the financial crisis deepens.

Published in Dawn, April 29th, 2020