Various industrial units of the city, including export-oriented industries, are incurring huge financial losses owing to inadequate supply of water. According to industrialists, water shortage was also posing difficulties in meeting the deadlines of exporting their products. "In fact, persisting water shortage has badly affected industrial production," they added.
They said industrial zones of the city facing acute water shortage has threatened the survival of foreign exchange earning industries, including textile and leather industries. They deplored that all the complaints lodged in this regard with the managing director of Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) have, so far, went in vain.
Voicing his concern over water shortage, Korangi Association of Trade and Industry's (KATI) President Rashid Ahmed Siddiqui regretted problems of Karachi were continuously multiplying with each passing days although the city being an economic hub of the country had been contributing more than 70 percent revenue to national exchequer. He said that industrial estates of the city have been paying millions of rupees under the head of different taxes, industries of the metropolis did not have the facilities required to operate industrial units on optimum level.
He said that industrialist would be compelled to close their factories if the government failed to facilitate them and such a move on the party of industrialists would render million of workers jobless. He said that production activities in many industrial units of the city had already been suspended in the wake of acute water shortage. Persisting water shortage has also made it impossible for industrialists to meet the deadline of their export orders, the KATI chief said, adding that such things amounted to tarnishing the image of the country.
Mian Zahid Hussain of All Karachi Industrial Alliance said that persisting water shortage had already forced a number of industrialists to shift their industrials to Punjab, while foreign buyers are reluctant to place their orders with Pakistani exporters. Claiming that hundreds of industries have already been closed and some more are on the verge of closure due to water shortage, he urged the federal government to intervene into the matter to help save the industries of the city from being closed.
Chairman of Voice of Karachi Industrialist, Mehtabuddin Chawala, demanded of Sindh governor and chief minister to direct the managing director of KWSB to immediately restore normal water supply to all industrial zones of the city. Patron-in-Chief of Pakistan Tanners Association, Gulzar Firoz, said that the government should take immediate measure to help resolve the issues being faced by the value-added sector so that exports could be enhanced by taking advantage of the GSP Plus status.
He complained that in the absence of piped water in the KIA's tannery zone, tanker mafia was doing a roaring business by charging exorbitant rates. He demanded of Sindh governor to take action against tanker mafia, ensuring normal water to the tannery zone.
Federal B' Area Association's Chairman Javed Ali Ghori regretted that export-oriented industries were being ignored despite the fact that it was earning a huge foreign exchange for the country. He demanded of Sindh governor, chief minister and local government minister to help resolve the industrialists' lingering water shortage issue.
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