KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) with the help of Pakistan Rangers (Sindh) busted a network of water thieves in a grand operation carried out in Rehri Goth of Landhi, it emerged on Sunday.

According to officials, with the help of heavy machinery, the paramilitary force dismantled an illegal water hydrant which was operating under the garb of an RO (reverse osmosis) plant. Water worth billions of rupees was being stolen and sold to an oil refinery at exorbitant rates.

The officials said the RO plant, spread over two acres, had been established in Rehri Goth in the recent past. The water thieves had got constructed an underground water tank and punctured a water supply line of the KWSC to store water.

They also reinstalled the illegal hydrant from where water used to be transported through bowsers to the oil refinery, they added.

The theft had been going on for years, but the last year, KWSC Chief Executive Syed Salahuddin Ahmed with the help of the paramilitary force had destroyed the illegal hydrants and all machinery was seized.

Some days ago, the RO plant was established there again and the network of water theft was reactivated, the officials said.

A KWSC official said that no arrest was made in the operation.

Published in Dawn, December 23rd, 2024