KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) has introduced a digital system with QR codes installed on 550 registered water tankers to control the water theft through operation of illegal hydrants.

Mayor Barrister Murtaza Wahab, who is also the chairman of the KWSC, said on Sunday that the main objective of digitising the hydrants management cell was to ensure smooth supply of chlorinated and purified water through tankers.

While inspecting the hydrants management cell at the KWSC head office at Karasaz, he said that that the water utility had for the first time moved towards real time information on water supply from hydrants.

A KWSC spokesperson said that the mayor was also given a detailed briefing by KWSC Chief Executive Officer Syed Salahuddin Ahmed, regarding the hydrants management centre.

Barrister Wahab said that the purpose of water tankers service was to provide immediate relief to common citizens.

He said that through the software installed in the hydrants management centre, the public would receive an e-slip in which all the information of the tanker would be available.

The mayor said that 550 tankers had tracker systems and QR codes installed on their windscreens to identify which hydrant the tanker was registered to and what its official rates were.

He said that illegal tankers would be easily identified by QR code. “This will help to control the theft of water which is our main objective,” he added.

There are seven legal and over 150 illegal hydrants in the city, which is at present getting 570 million gallons water daily from Keenjhar Lake and Hub Dam.

Water utility sources said that only 11 to 13 million gallon water was supplied through tankers from hydrants.

Published in Dawn, September 11th, 2023