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Tanker mafia draining away Rs50bn annually
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Tanker mafia draining away Rs50bn annually

Karachi: Everyday, 272 million gallons of water is being siphoned illegally into Karachi, according to a research conducted by the non-profit non-governmental organisation, Urban Resource Centre (URC) and the Orangi Pilot Project. The annual budget of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), which is supposed to supply water throughout the city, is Rs5.3 billion. In contrast, the water being illegally siphoned off is worth Rs49.6 billion, meaning that if the water theft is contained, the utility can become a profitable organisation.

In Karachi, where the population rises by the size of the population in Islamabad every year due to internal migration, there two sources of water supply. One is the River Indus, which supplies 645 million gallons per day (mgd) of water, although this amount is dwindling owing to the impact of climate change. The other is the Hub dam, where supplies fluctuate between 30mgd and 75mgd, depending on rainfall.

Before any of the water reaches the Dhabeji pumping station, Pakistan Steel and Port Qasim Authority is supplied with 30mgd. The city is therefore left with 665mgd. From here, tankers managed by Rangers allegedly siphon the precious resource in collaboration with officials from the KWSB.

The KWSB has nine official hydrants managed by Rangers. The official rate for water supplied through tankers ranges from 15 paisas/gallon to 25 paisas/gallon, depending on the distance the water has to travel and whether it is for residential or commercial use. The rates are Rs150 to Rs250 for 1,000 gallons, Rs300 to Rs450 for 2,000 gallons, Rs450 to Rs800 for 3,000 gallons, and Rs1,200 for 5,000 gallons. Officially, Rangers are authorised to supply 13.75mgd water through 13,750 tanker trips. However, 25mgd water is supplied through only 8,377 tanker trips. Sometimes, the water is charged at double the usual rate, depending on the distance it has to travel, how well clients bargain, and the season.

“The job to supply water was given to Rangers in the 1990s on a temporary basis. They were supposed to supply it to water-starved areas, but it has become such a lucrative business that they are not ready to give it up,” said Mohammad Nauman, an associate professor at NED University of Engineering and Technology, who has written extensively on water issues. Apart from the nine official hydrants, there are 161 unofficial hydrants or water filling stations. Most of these are located near the bulk distribution mains. According to the URC, there are six areas in the city where clusters of hydrants and filling points have been reported. These can be found at the Hub reservoir to Banaras Chowk along the Manghopir Road, at Banaras Chowk to Guttar Bagicha, at Mewashah graveyard to Shershah along the Lyari river, near Saba Cinema at Ayub Goth in North Karachi, along the National Highway near Malir, and in Lalabad, Landhi.

As many as 5,000 tankers are affiliated with the Private Tankers Association, which makes 50,000 to 60,000 trips supplying 185mgd to 222mgd water. Seventy per cent of this supply goes to industries. The bulk supply to towns is 293mgd. There is a shortfall of 260mgd to 308mgd, which is being met by the tanker mafia. To put this in perspective, the city gets 333mgd water from unofficial hydrants, and a mere 25mgd from official hydrants.

Nauman feels that to prevent water theft, it has become necessary to hand over the pipelines to union councils (UC) and towns and install water meters in homes. He thinks that these UCs and towns should pay a certain portion of the water tax. Mohammad Younus, Director, URC, agrees, and added, “The KWSB should have its own power generation to contain water scarcity due to frequent power breakdown in the city.”

Meanwhile, Dr Shahana Urooj, Chairperson, Department of Microbiology and Dean, Faculty of Science, University of Karachi said that the KWSB water supply is contaminated. “A number of studies were carried out by the department of microbiology. They found traces of potential human pathogens, suggesting the water is contaminated with sewage,” she said. She warned that this can cause diarrhoea, enteric fevers, and bacterial problems such as campylobacter, salmonella, shigella, virulent E.coli, and viruses like rota and Norwalk.
The News Thursday, August 28, 2008
http://thenews.com.pk/daily_detail.asp?id=132444

August 30, 2008 | 12:01 PM Comments  0 comments

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