KARACHI: The Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation has recovered Rs12 billion, out of over Rs31.7bn, water dues from the federal and provincial organisations after the intervention of the Public Account Committee of the Sindh Assembly.

The matter of outstanding dues was taken up by the PAC on Nov 27, last year and during the examination of audit paragraphs of the water utility from 2019 to 2021 it was revealed that the federal and provincial institutions owed Rs31.77bn water dues.

The federal government organisations owed Rs20.6bn, Sindh government department Rs9.8bn and the municipal bodies Rs1.25bn to the water utility.

Earlier this week, the water utility informed the PAC that it had successfully recovered Rs12.594bn as of March. It said that Rs10.37bn was recovered from the federal government institutions and Rs2.21bn from Sindh government departments.

However, the PAC was informed that no amount was recovered from the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation that owed Rs1.25bn to the water utility in water dues.

The federal government and Sindh government institutions that have paid the water utility dues include Pakistan Steel Mills (Rs6.84bn), Gadap and Ibrahim Hyderi towns (Rs2bn), provincial public health engineering department (Rs425m), Cantonment Board Faisal (Rs91.34m), Pakistan Air Force (Rs57m), Sindh Government Hospital Korangi No. 5 (Rs55.69m), Deputy Postmaster General (Rs36.9m), Pakistan State Oil (Rs9.8m), Karachi Shipyard and Engineering Works (Rs8.41m) and Pakistan Navy (Rs4.55m).

PAC Chairman Nisar Khuhro said that the federal government was requested to pay the remaining Rs10.31bn water dues as soon as possible.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2025