THE silence of the Sindh government over the recent exposé in this paper about Karachi’s water tanker mafia smacks of indifference — and worse. Certainly, proceeds from the racket line the pockets of many powerful stakeholders across the board, both uniformed and otherwise, as well as local-level political networks of all stripe. But the buck stops with the provincial government that has financial and administrative control of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board. If governance and serving the people of this huge city were of any importance to the authorities, the alarming levels of corruption and malpractice that the investigative report revealed is festering in the workings of the KWSB would have spurred them into action. However, cleaning the Augean stables is evidently not a priority for the Sindh government. Instead, it seems to have chosen the path of least resistance, keeping mum until the information becomes ‘yesterday’s news’ so that the system that works to serve a few at the cost of millions can continue as before.

The supply of water through tankers was originally meant for the purpose of providing water to areas that did not have water pipelines or which were particularly affected in times of drought. As Karachi descended into political anarchy, contesting groups warring over the city’s resources fuelled an informal economy in land and water. Hydrant operations became heavily politicised, controlled by a cartel capable of holding the megacity hostage for days on one pretext or another — almost always resolved by revising tanker charges upwards. Certainly, there is shortage of potable water when taking into account Karachi’s population, but even in the wake of record rainfall such as that experienced last year, the city’s water quota remains the same because the rundown infrastructure is simply not capable of carrying increased amounts. In other words, it suits some quarters not to improve KWSB pipelines, or push for higher recovery of its receivables, or dismantle illegal hydrants, or punish those accused of malpractice rather than allowing them to continue in positions of authority. An equitably shared water supply at reasonable rates would not serve these quarters. The duty of the media is to inform and to hold the authorities’ feet to the fire. But what is one to do in the face of such shameful indifference from those who have been voted in to serve the people?

Published in Dawn, January 29th, 2023