Town’s foremost bulk water provide artery – the KB Feeder Canal, which brings freshwater from Keenjhar Lake to Karachi – is teetering on the point of collapse. For over three a long time, no large-scale cleansing or desilting operation has been carried out. Because of this, specialists warn that the canal is now working at almost 40 per cent under its designed capability, leaving the metropolis more and more susceptible to unprecedented shortages.
The current catastrophic floods in Punjab and Sindh have solely compounded the disaster, flushing hundreds of tons of silt and natural waste into Keenjhar Lake and its linked channels. Hydrologists warning that with out a right away desilting drive, Karachi might lose a further 15 to twenty per cent capability, additional choking provide to thousands and thousands already on the mercy of the tanker mafia.
Years of neglect official data of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Company (KWSC) verify that between 40 to 50 million gallons per day (MGD) of potential provide has been misplaced over the previous three a long time attributable to unchecked silting. Engineers had repeatedly flagged the problem, but each proposal for a scientific desilting marketing campaign was shelved – the reasons acquainted: funding constraints, bureaucratic hurdles, shifting political priorities.
The cumulative affect has been devastating: the canal’s hydraulic efficiency has deteriorated to the purpose the place even reasonable stress occasions – just like the current floods – can cripple provide traces.
“That is not a routine operational drawback. It’s the compounded consequence of a long time of neglect mixed with local weather shocks,” warned a senior hydrologist. “If pressing measures will not be taken, Karachi is headed in the direction of its worst water disaster in historical past.”
Residents bear the brunt: For over 35 million residents, water shortages are nothing new. However with recent capability losses looming, provide cycles are anticipated to shrink additional, forcing total neighbourhoods into longer dry spells. The reliance on personal tankers will rise, driving up family bills and aggravating each social and financial stress for odd households.
The lacking accountability: Undertaking Director below hearth
Whereas institutional neglect is usually blamed on “systemic failures,” a lot of the accountability lies in poor project-level oversight. The Undertaking Director of the Hub Canal rehabilitation scheme, for example, has come below sharp criticism. Regardless of billions being earmarked – Rs14 billion in allocations – the challenge has been marred by substandard building, flawed planning, and repeated price overruns.
Because of this, a scheme that was designed to safeguard 100 million gallons per day of further provide is now in jeopardy, with almost 10 MGD already compromised. Unbiased specialists and civil society teams allege that as an alternative of making certain high quality and transparency, the Undertaking Director allowed consultants and contractors to chop corners.
“The issue isn’t just technical; it’s administrative,” stated a former KWSC official. “When these tasked with defending Karachi’s lifeline fail to discharge their duties diligently, your complete metropolis pays the worth.”
A sample of failures: The debacle echoes a broader pattern in Karachi’s water governance. Main initiatives – from long-delayed expansions of the majority provide system to the repeatedly stalled Ok-IV challenge – have suffered from the identical mixture of political interference, weak oversight, and misplaced priorities.
The outcome: as the town’s inhabitants has ballooned, its infrastructure has remained static, under-maintained, and more and more fragile. The current floods have brutally uncovered this vulnerability.
What subsequent?: Consultants and civic activists insist that solely an emergency desilting and rehabilitation programme can avert whole collapse. Additionally they demand a clear inquiry into the Hub Canal challenge, holding consultants, contractors, and the Undertaking Director accountable for billions wasted and significant provide in danger.
“Three a long time of inaction have introduced us right here. If the provincial authorities and the town’s management nonetheless deal with this disaster as enterprise as typical, Karachi shall be looking at a humanitarian catastrophe,” warned an city planner.
For now, the town waits – its lifeline clogged, its residents parched, and its belief in governance operating dry.
