KARACHI: The city’s water woes dominated the Sindh Assembly proceedings on Monday for the umpteenth time with the opposition members threatening that they would take to streets along with people if the situation was not controlled.

Voicing concern over the severe water shortage in their respective constituencies in particular and across the city in general, they said that people had become dejected and enraged due to chronic water crisis as the most essential commodity was not flowing in the taps, but available through tankers at exorbitant prices.

In his call attention notice, Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan’s (MQM-P) Jamal Ahmed said the people of his constituency (PS-130) in North Nazimabad were enraged as after being deprived of drinking water.

He said that while the water did not flow in the taps, tankers mafia was fleecing people by selling the commodity at excessive rates. “If the residents of North Nazimabad are not given water within two days, we will not let the hydrant in the area operate,” he warned.

Mr Ahmed also said that the MPA and MNA from the constituency would stage a protest together if the water supply was not restored to the vicinity.

LG minister Ghani criticises KE for carrying out loadshedding despite timely payment of dues by govt

He also came down heavily on the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) and said that equipment at pumping stations was not in order, which further affected water supply.

The MQM-P member also questioned as to why the chief operating officer of the water utility was not being replaced despite he had retired four years ago. “Are there no other competent officers in the KWSC to replace him?” he asked.

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s Sajjad Ali in his call attention notice also voiced his concern over water shortage in Lyari. He had initially drawn attention of the local government minister towards poor sanitation condition in his constituency (PS-106).

He said that there were 28 pumping stations in Lyari for water and sewerage, which were given over 1,600 litres diesel, but still sewage was overflowing and no water was available in the vicinity.

The PTI member said that water was not flowing in taps across the city, while every now and then main supply lines ruptured.

He also said that load-shedding had made the life of people miserable and demanded that the house committee on electricity distribution companies must initiate action against the K-Electric (KE).

Answering separately to the call attention notices, Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani strongly criticised the KE for continued load-shedding despite the provincial government making timely payments of all dues.

He said no government building or department was a defaulter, yet electricity outages persist.

The LG minister said that the city’s lone power utility must ensure uninterrupted electricity to those institutions and individuals who paid their bills in full and on time.

In reply to the call attention notice forwarded by the MQM lawmaker, he said that water was supplied in North Nazimabad via two sources — the University Reservoir and the Hub Dam.

He said that while the Hub Dam provided a 56-hour supply every 15 days, any issues like load-shedding disrupted the flow. “The University Reservoir, on the other hand, supplies around 18 out of 24 hours daily,” he added.

Mr Ghani said that the ongoing repair and construction work at the Hub Dam canal was moving swiftly; it would be completed by year-end.

“Efforts are also underway to enhance water delivery from the University Reservoir in the next 2-3 weeks,” he assured the MQM-P member.

In reply to the notice by the PTI MPA, the LG minister said the entire sewerage system in the area was dependent on pumping stations, which suffered from 12 to 16 hours of load-shedding.

“Generators and diesel have been arranged for these stations, and a substantial amount is also being paid to the KE to exempt these facilities from outages,” he added.

He also informed that the Lyari Transformation Project was being launched and included in the forthcoming Annual Development Programme (ADP).

Later, Speaker Syed Awais Shah adjourned the house to Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, May 20th, 2025