KARACHI, Aug 15: The water supply to one of the city’s industrial hub, Site Industrial Trading Estate (SITE), was suspended on Wednesday, which further deepened the crisis faced by industries as they were already struggling with an over nine per cent increase in water tariff.

As per practice, SITE Limited gets water supply from KW&SB and SITE then releases water to the industrial units. KW&SB has discontinued water supply to SITE Limited on non-payment issues.

Chairman Site Association of Industry Mohammad Irfan Moton said that all industries in SITE, especially the processing units were seriously hit following the discontinuation of water supply from Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KW&SB) to SITE Limited.

Industries previously were only getting 3 to 3.5 MGD of water from KWSB against a requirement of 32 MGD.

Moton said that 50 per cent of industries especially the textile sector had become almost non operative amid lack of water, while other industries from various sectors were struggling to survive. This could lead to mass unemployment which could deteriorate the city’s law and order situation.

Pakistan Hosiery Manufacturers and Exporters Association had expressed their views in a letter to the President, on the negative impact on industries following the more than nine per cent hike in water tariff by KW&SB especially as it raises their cost of doing business.

There have been some issues about the pricing of water as the Central Chairman of the Association Rana Muhammad Mushtaq Khan informed the president and prime minister that the tariff for industrial raw material such as gas, electricity, petrol and diesel is uniform in all provinces.

However, there is utter discrimination in the price of water which is Rs53 per thousand gallons in Punjab, Rs52 in Balochistan but Rs158 in Sindh.—Staff Reporter