More water shortages expected for Karachi

KARACHI: All perennial canals including the KB Feeder at the Kotri barrage, which supplies water to the city through Keenjhar Lake, will work under a rotational plan to meet the water shortage, announced the provincial government’s irrigation and power department, Daily Times learnt Friday.

The rotational plan was announced by the Indus River Systems Authority (IRSA) after assessing the shortage of water in the province which was around 22 percent and Sindh was supposed to receive 11.67 million acre feet (MAF) of water during the current Rabi Season. “We are already facing a potable water shortage to run the mammoth water system in the city,” an official of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) told Daily Times on the condition of anonymity.

Despite having a huge potable water system consisting of over 150 water-pumping stations, 25 bulk reservoirs and installations, 8 water filter plants, over 11,000 kilometres of pipelines, 25,000,000 km-long pipeline system, KWSB is struggling.

“The plan has just been announced and once it is enforced, the real amount of water shortage will be revealed which could create problems,” he said. KWSB was only serving 46 percent of the population, he said.

“We have a shortage every year and assess it on the basis of the available reservoirs and the actual flows in the rivers of the country which show that the shortage could be higher that 22 percent,” said IRSA’s deputy director and spokesman Khalid Idress Rana. Sindh and Punjab are the major provinces which use a large quantity of water from the Indus river system. Consequently, both provinces have to share the shortage which is around 35 percent altogether and 22 percent of this was being faced by Sindh.

After such announcements, the provincial irrigation department announced that the rotational plan would use water which is used for drinking and industrial purposes. “KWSB does not have storage capacity and has to announce a rotation plan due to the water shortage in the city,” the board official further said. amar guriro

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