Water Scarcity and Management Issues in Karachi: Insights from Experts at URC Seminar
KARACHI’s water scarcity crisis has been escalating due to various factors including theft, population growth, infrastructure issues, line losses, unjust distribution practices, corruption within management systems, poor quality of provided water and more. These concerns were highlighted in a seminar titled “Water Scarcity in City: A Discussion on Issues and Causes,” hosted by the Urban Resource Centre (URC). Notable participants included Arif Hasan who emphasized building dams around the Kirthar Range to cater to Karachi’s increasing water demand.
Electrical engineer Mansoor Raza presented data revealing that Karachi has experienced a significant population increase, which in turn heightens the city’s growing need for clean water—a challenge made worse by ageing infrastructure and unjust allocation of resources wherein tanker mafia allegedly benefits. The ‘tanker men’ are known to potentially exploit this situation financially at the expense of fair distribution, as they supply only through their vehicles rather than official lines that also serve communities in need like Karachi Point Colony and Baldwin Crescent.
Arif Hasan spoke about corruption affecting water management costs in Pakistan: international organizations such as World Bank often inflate project cost estimates to justify the necessity for external loans, a concerning point raised by Mr. Raza during his speech at URC’s seminar held on Wednesday — details of which are captured from various articles and studies conducted over time like those published in Dawn newspaper dating back as far as January 23rd, 2nerveda
- He also criticized the lack of culture for rainwater harvesting within Karachi to enhance water availability during periods of shortage.
Student Presentations at URC Seminar:
Dumlottee Wells Project Overview in Malir District
Two students from Sir Syed University of Engineering and Technology, Farhan Ali Khan and Rasha Shahid spoke about the historical Dumlottee wells constructed by British Raj back in 19th-century Karachi. These long extinct sources were once functional but now are unused due to neglect — with an urgent call for their restoration which holds potential benefits such as providing sufficient water and halting illegal extraction activities like sand mining at these wells; however, the government’s response has been disappointingly non-constructive.
Mechanism Against Water Wastage: Urgency in Action Plans
Finally, experts underscored an urgent requirement for Karachi to devise mechanisms against water wastage similar to practices observed in developed nations where efficient resource usage is commonplace — a significant issue as large volumes of potentially scarce resources are lost on trivial activities.
Published insights were shared during the seminar aiming at creating awareness and sparking actions that could lead towards sustainable solutions for Karachi’s water management crisis, including but not limited to rainwater harvesting techniques, infrastructure improvements, fair distribution mechanisms and strict anti-corruption measures.