KARACHI: Ideally, Karachi needs roughly 1.2 billion gallons daily to supply water for more than 22 million residents but the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) is able to provide around 500-600 million gallons per day. There are many reasons for this shortage. Water theft is rampant, accounting for a lot of the scarcity issues, and according to the KWSB, almost half of the water is lost or stolen before it reaches consumers. A lot of this water eventually reaches the people through the water tanker mafia at inflated rates. 1,000 gallons water tanker costs from Rs 1,500 to 2,500 in Karachi. This is a steep price, especially for larger, poorer families, some of which spend a third of their income on the stolen water. Equally at fault is inadequate infrastructure. A majority of the city’s water lines are decades old and deteriorating after operating with minimal maintenance.
But the residents of Karachi face even bigger threat. Those who manage to get water are at severe risk of contracting waterborne diseases because of contamination.
Back in 2018, the Supreme Court of Pakistan formed a Judicial Commission on Water and Sanitation. The commission submitted several reports indicating that more than half of Karachi’s water is unfiltered. According to recent media reports, waterborne diseases and skin infections are on the rise mainly due to prevailing unhygienic conditions and supply of contaminated water to many parts of the city. Several private sector players and corporations are stepping up to help the government and make a difference. The city’s sole electricity provider, K-Electric is one such entity, which under its various CSR initiatives such as Project Sarbulandi, has set up as many as eight water filtration plants in various areas such as Korangi, Orangi, Landhi, Surjani and Sultanabad. With a combined capacity of around 192,000 gallons per day, these ultra-filtration plants providing clean and safe drinking water to the area residents.
According to KE spokesperson, who spoke to this scribe: “KE believes that dual investment in Karachi’s infrastructure and communities is vital for long-term growth. KE strives to go beyond power provision, to empowering communities that will enable the people to benefit in various ways, ranging from clean-up drives, infrastructure development, family fairs to medical camps. Water filtration plants are just one representation of broader efforts under Project Sarbulandi to engage and grow with the wider community.” The plants which are set up to be self-sustainable based on daily water sales cater to an average of 10,000 households each and help save time and money since women and children either had to travel long distances or stand in queues to buy unsafe water from unreliable sources.
The plants work on a principle of using membranes to filter the water, which need to be changed every few months. Each of these filtration plants is run by a committee which includes area elders.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2021
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