PCRWR assessment report: Unsafe water kills 10,000 people in Karachi every year

As many as 10,000 people die in Karachi every year because of renal infection caused by contaminated water, according to an assessment report compiled by Pakistan Council of Research in Water Resources (PCRWR). Citing a global survey report on water-borne diseases unveiled on Wednesday, the council's document said that every third person was a patient of hepatitis-B or -C and Sindh was the worst-hit province, while Khyber-Pakhtunkhawa and Punjab ranked second and third, respectively.
The council conducted a technical assessment survey of water supply schemes in 22 districts of Sindh, according to which the performance of these schemes in terms of providing water in an adequate quantity and of safe quality was extremely poor. According to the survey, the water supply schemes were supplying piped water for drinking purposes to meet household needs and for other multiple uses to a population of 11.716 million persons on 1,247 surveyed water schemes. The fact is that 58 per cent of the schemes were not functioning properly and as a result nearly 47 per cent of the total population was not served by the water supply schemes.
Alarmingly, 98 per cent of functional schemes were providing unsafe drinking water. Moreover, the average water charges were figured out to be just two rupees a month per scheme on a province basis. Chairman of the PCRWR Dr Aslam Tahir said that a lack of proper management, operation and maintenance of water systems was one of the critical issues confounding water supply schemes.
All in all 75 per cent of the total 718 non-functional schemes were found to have been found as temporarily closed. Identifying reasons for temporary closures, he said financial problems, breakage of vital water delivery components or non-functioning of pumps, motors or transformers were major factors.
The survey result showed that 95 per cent of water sources serving functional schemes were unfit for drinking and microbiological contamination was found in all unsafe water samples from functional schemes. According to the survey, nine per cent of the schemes were over 20 years old, 16 per cent of the schemes were 20 to 25 years old, 28 per cent schemes between 15- and 20-year-old, whereas 47 per cent of them were 10 to 15 years old.
The Chairman said most distribution system used pipes whose useful life was less than 20 years. Stressing the need for a rehabilitation programme, he said that it was vital to redesign water supply schemes and priority should be given to older schemes. All remedial works, he said, should be based on the estimation of current and future water requirements.