KARACHI, Dec 9: Scores of water tankers have been supplying dubious quality water to consumers in different parts of the metropolis amid a shortage of piped water, it is learnt.

Sources in the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) confided to Dawn that several hundred “private hydrants” had sprung up in the city to do a roaring business in the water-deficient localities.

A survey conducted recently shows that the operators of these illegal hydrants fill up tankers with piped water and mix sub-soil water of dubious quality with it.

A tanker-load of this turbid, muddy and unhygienic water is supplied to consumers at a rate charged by the official hydrants.

The sources said that the racket was flourishing with the connivance of some unscrupulous elements within the water utility.

“Those involved in this illegal business are playing havoc with the health of consumers,” they said, adding that the illegal hydrants were located along both the banks of the Lyari and Malir rivers, besides in certain other parts of the city.

The operators of such hydrants draw water mainly from the sub-soil source and partly from the KWSB’s supply lines through illegally fixed connections, according to the sources.

About the mushroom growth of illegal hydrants, well-placed sources in the KWSB pointed out that many areas in the metropolis were still without legal water connections.

They estimated that more than 10 per cent of the city’s population was not getting piped water while the supply of water to industrial areas stood considerably less than their actual requirement.

Quoting the socio-economic survey conducted for the preparation of the Karachi Strategic Development Plan (KSDP), they said that the piped water supply in the city came to 89 per cent, showing an 11 per cent shortfall in supply as against the demand.

The domestic water consumption accounted for about 60 per cent of the total water requirement in the city, the sources added.

They argued that quite a big population of domestic consumers and industrial units had to depend on the water supplied through tankers.

Since the official hydrants did not have the capacity to cater to the needs of such a huge number of consumers, the illegal tanker operators had been doing a roaring business, they argued.

The sources said that besides the illegal hydrants set up along the banks of the Lyari and Malir rivers, a large number of illegal hydrants had sprung up in Manghopir, Shershah, Orangi, Korangi, Landhi and Baldia.

According to the survey, the areas depending totally on tanker water include several blocks of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, KDA Scheme-33 and scores of katchi abadis and slums. Many commercial and industrial consumers in Site, F.B. Area, North Karachi, Landhi and Korangi industrial areas have to purchase water for drinking and other purposes from illegal hydrants.

Many mischievous tanker operators tend to park their vehicles loaded with sub-soil mixed water in the periphery of the official hydrants to trap customers looking for official hydrants’ water.