I am a twitterholic. I use it to rant, to source information and to engage with interesting people. Of late, I have started posting what to most other people may seem mundane, but has supreme importance in my life. Like the day I received water in my pipeline. I have started noticing a pattern in such tweets. They occur once every 18-20 days. In between these days, I celebrate receiving a water tanker (that I pay for).

In Karachi, the haves and the have-nots have all experienced the equaliser known as the water shortage. The difference between the two demographics being, of course, the ability to purchase the diminishing resource by one as opposed to the other segment of population. This being the case also for most other services and commodities given the inequitable system we live under.

A drive across the city will show you the inequitable distribution of water. You can see people lined up at community taps, trying to fill their containers to gardeners hosing down tracts of lush green lawns or drivers washing cars and driveways, showing callous disregard to the waste of precious potable water. During prolonged dry spells Karachi has even witnessed water riots.

All this while, water tankers thunder across roads, providing water to those who can afford to purchase it from them and earning the ire of those without the means. The ire has not only been in the form of street protests. Questions about why water was available to these tankers when there was none in the pipeline network has taken the life of the city’s illustrious, sensitive and professionally committed daughter, Perveen Rehman, who tried to unmask this mafia.

This city by the sea sets its eyes on the vastness of the sea water lapping against its shores. However, moving inwards from the coast, this very water becomes a diminishing and contentious resource. It is not easy to get a handle on the problems faced by Karachiites. It is unlike any other city of Pakistan because of its size, cosmopolitan nature and the manner in which it shoulders the weight of being the economic engine that pulls the rest of the country, contributing over 20 percent of the GDP.

Karachi is a magnet that draws people from all parts of Pakistan, who come here in search of a better life. This is an indictment of the lopsided, inequitable development that has denied those opportunities to other parts of the country. This shiny magnet is, however, very deceptive and loses its sheen at close inspection when the majority (almost 60 percent) of those coming, have to eke out a living in informal settlements known as katchi abadis. These informal settlements do not conform to a set pattern and their access to utilities and facilities varies. It is in this context that we have to look at water availability for Karachi.

An assessment report drafted by the World Bank to overhaul the infrastructure, gives an idea of the complexity of the problem. The report says, “Karachi’s water supply services are falling far short of the expanding city’s needs. Nearly three million residents lack access to piped water, and even those formally connected experience inadequate, irregular and inequitable service.” Typical service quality is “two hours every two days to four hours per day at very low pressure”, with rationing widespread especially in katchi abadis that face severe shortages of water.

The report further states, “Brackish groundwater limits the use of household wells, so inefficient and expensive private water tankers are a major source of domestic water supply. The city’s current water demand is estimated at 5.5 million cubic metres per day, and the current supply shortfall is estimated as 2.5 million cubic metres per day.”

The report highlights the widening gap between demand and supply, the crumbling infrastructure, the governance conundrum and the burgeoning population. Population growth outpaces all allocations and plans. By the time a new resource is planned, allocated and implemented, the demand has already grown beyond the capacity to deliver. The gap in service delivery and revenue generation through water is also huge and does not make it easy for the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) to function at optimum efficiency. The additional burden of human resource mismanagement has left it open to a lot of criticism, which has prompted some drastic reform suggestions contained in the aforementioned report.

We must remember that the water Karachi received from Keenjhar lake, is part of Sindh’s allocation under the 1991 Water Apportionment Accord. It amounts to just about 1 percent of the total provincial allocation. Given the rate of urbanisation that makes Karachi one of the fastest growing cities of South Asia, there has been a corresponding slide on the Global Liveability Ranking of The Economist, with “inadequate water provision” being one of the measures taken into account.

In the words of Simi Kamal, chairperson of the Hisaar Foundation, a think tank on water, “Water demand, supply and use are haphazard and seemingly unsolvable in this complex city of ours. The very first question of the water rights for each person, for drinking, domestic use, sanitation and greenery at home has not been resolved. Then comes allocation for agriculture, industry, environment and municipal uses. But we still don’t know the actual population of Karachi, as the last census figures are heavily disputed. How, then, can we begin to work out how much water the city needs? Do we calculate the minimum quantity required by each person as per the World Health Organisation or do we work out our own standards? In either case, we need to separate water rights from property rights. Water allocation should be per capita, instead of by the size of the land plot owned. According to current laws, landless people or those living in squatter settlements have no right to water supplied by municipalities and water utilities. They get water as favours granted by political groups. Throughout the supply chain, there is theft, leakage, revenue loss and the use of public hydrants for private gains. Some parts of the city get direct water and are directly billed by the KWSB, while others get bulk supply and do their own distribution. Yet others get nothing officially and are supplied by a range of water vendors.”

She points to the fact that water allocation is according to the size of the plot instead of the number of people consuming it. Similarly, fixed water charges are not conducive to any conservation measures and a lot of the water, made potable with a lot of input and cost by the KWSB, is wasted in uses that can easily be met through water recycling and treatment. She also disagrees with the fixed allocation and wants it to be tied to the in-city migration and transfer of water rights of people coming to Karachi from other parts of the country: “I believe that every person who comes to settle in Karachi must bring his/her water entitlement/right with them to the city. In principle this would mean calculating and putting those amounts into the water supply allocation of Karachi.”

“A new way of thinking is needed to tackle the growing demand for water that cannot be met by the different parts of the water resource looked after by different institutions – what I call the ‘plethora of organisations supposedly managing water’ – from federal to district. That’s one of the reasons why water policies covering all aspects of water in a holistic manner are so necessary. But the national and provincial water policies of the Punjab and Sindh reflect departmental thinking to perpetuate current arrangements rather than manage water differently to reflect realities of this century,” Kamal says.

During prolonged dry spells Karachi has even witnessed water riots

When asked how big really is the gap between the demand and supply and how the government of Sindh plans on bridging it, Murtaza Wahab Siddiqui, advisor to chief minister on law and environment and a spokesperson for the provincial government, says that “Karachi right now gets 450 million gallons daily (MGD) water from Keenjhar and 70 MGD from the Hub dam, while our requirement is about 1,100 MGD. From whatever we are getting it, there are line losses and water theft that further impair the supply. The much talked about K4 project is supposed to augment the supply but the project has faced numerous issues due to which it hasn’t attained any success primarily due to lack of coordination and trust between the federal government and the Government of Sindh. The project’s development was stopped on instructions from Prime Minister Imran Khan in September 2018. Since then, no progress has taken place despite the fact that the federal government last year in September assumed total control of the K4 project. There is another issue of the federal government allowing supply of additional water from Keenjhar (650 MGD). That request has also been pending with the federal government since 2016.”

When asked about the way forward to meet the shortfall, he says, “The Governmen of Sindh, in order to solve the issue has introduced a 100 MGD supply project from Dhabeji which is now functional. In addition, there is another 65 MGD project from Haleji side and 30 MGD from Keenjhar (10 MGD for Dhabeji Special Economic Zone and 20 MGD for Karachi’s District South). This line will be brought through an underground water channel so that water theft can be avoided and water can reach the tail end of the city (Clifton, DHA, Saddar and Lyari). There is also work going on with regards to water treatment and a 70 MGD treated water facility is being developed in the SITE area to provide water to industrial areas.”

With all eyes on the expanding development, especially housing development schemes on the outskirts of the city, there is growing concern about the elite capture through diversion of the additional resources to gated communities, like Bahria Town and DHA City. Speaking on condition of anonymity, an official of the KWSB stated that currently Bahria Town is getting up to 12 MGD water from the existing supply. Its future demand is dependent on the K-4 project. Another project of additional 65 MGD is under execution (mentioned above by Murtaza Wahab) and probably the future demand of Bahria Town may be fulfilled once that is available. But these plans are uncertain.

While these developments, along with the detailed findings and recommendations articulated in the World Bank report on the restructuring of the KWSB state that, “the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board is responsible for wash services. The current service gaps arise from KWSB’s operational challenges, chronic under-investment, and a weak enabling environment. The KWSB has not had significant capital investment for over a decade, even though a 2008 master plan estimated investment needs of over $2.5 billion to achieve universal access to safe and affordable drinking water by 2030. The last international financing institution (IFI) investment project was in the mid-1990s.”

The report states that the “KWSB infrastructure is dilapidated and operating far below capacity. The KWSB has been unable to carry out preventive maintenance, focusing only on emergency repairs, thus aggravating the deterioration of the network over time… Clean and safe water and sanitation services are public goods and the project addresses an urgent public need. Moreover, given current operating losses, debts and substantial political and governance risks, it is unlikely that 23 World Bank Group required investments could be funded at affordable interest rates from private sources. Future projects in the series are expected to access commercial finance once KWSB’s institutional structure and financial performance are improved.”

However, before any of that can take place, there are other issues that need to be resolved. Amber Alibhai of Shehri-CBE, a seasoned campaigner for the rights of Karachi, believes that people cannot take the unlimited use of water as a birth right. Karachi received water from the river system that flows from Gilgit and Chitral, down the plains and being at the tail end, Karachi receives what is left after some very water intensive usages upstream.

She wants the focus to be not just on infrastructure and institutional reform but also behaviour change and legislative implementation. There has to be an emphasis on conservation and water should be seen as a shared resource. This would mean looking at changes in agricultural use to decreasing domestic water use. Use of potable water should not be allowed for lawns and golf courses, and washing of cars and driveways should be declared a crime. The taxation structure should also change to higher water taxes for large houses.

The above measures require legal as well social interventions and cannot be termed a quick fix. There is no silver bullet for Karachi’s water problems, as pointed out by Dr Nausheen Anwar, director of the Karachi Urban Lab at the Institute of Business Administration, Karachi University. While acknowledging the primary issues of shortages and the fact that the KWSB has not been able to keep up with the rising demand, she wants demographic changes, and cites a lack of growth planning, financial and technological constraints and the thriving tanker service, as some of the major hurdles in quenching Karachi’s thirst.

She has also led eye opening research, with Dr Daanish Mustafa and Dr Maiera Swais, where water shortages in some marginalised communities were seen through a gender lens. It came out very clearly that shortages not only lead to conflict within and between communities but also have a direct bearing on gender based violence. Her concern about the lack of correct numbers was echoed by Dr Hassaan F Khan, the principal investigator at Karachi Water Project (HEC-NRPU) and an assistant professor for environmental science (iSciM) at Habib University, who is looking at the basis of the various numbers regarding the demand projections. He questions the basis of the requirement figure, often quoted to be 1,100 MDG, given the fact that there is a seasonal ebb and flow in demand.

He is looking at developing a smart grid for water management through water meters that could rationalise revenue collection according to actual use and kick in conservation by plugging leakages and stopping misuse. Using water metering to put in place water conservation is an idea that has already been piloted by the IUCN Pakistan on a small scale in Abbottabad’s Nawan Shehr as part of its study on environmental fiscal reforms, and has resulted in considerable savings in water use.

It goes without saying that in a city as complex as Karachi, there is not one problem associated with water, and there cannot be one solution. It is encouraging that the Water Commission constituted by the Supreme Court, first under Justice Kalhoro and then Justice Amir Hani Muslim on a petition filed by Advocate Shahab Usto did a deep dive into the problems and came up with a list of specific recommendations for the province of Sindh.

When asked to list specific measures suggested for Karachi, Shahab Usto pointed out that at least 30 percent of water supplied to Karachi is lost to theft and waste. There are powerful interest groups including industry and operators of illegal hydrants, who are involved in water theft. He described the KWSB as corrupt, politicised and inefficient, and called for its overhaul, with better management and a depoliticised, independent board comprising both public and private representatives. Operations of the KWSB should be separated from repair and maintenance under an efficient supervisory division.

On the operational side, he insisted that all pumping stations should be fitted with meters to monitor water flow, theft and waste. Like electricity, every household should be fitted with a water meter and billed as per actual consumption. All water filter plants should also be made operational so that quality of water may be maintained (right now 90 percent of the water contains various pollutants). Usto also called for all illegal hydrants to be shut down and a minimum number of hydrants to be allowed until they are phased out. Tankers should operate under regulations and there should be no black marketing. There should be strict audit and accounting of water related revenues and expenses.

All the water filter plants should have a centralised computerised monitoring system so that the administration and public can monitor the water flow to ensure transparency as to the actual amount of water available at a certain point of time. In Usto’s view the current 600 MGD water is enough to cater to the city’s needs, if theft and waste are controlled.

We must also not forget that climate change is a factor that can scuttle the best plans by impacting the availability of water or the efficient functioning of infrastructure. The water infrastructure of the city needs to be made climate proof to ensure a continuous supply. Water is a human right, established in the UN Declaration of Human Rights and reflected in the Fundamental Rights in the constitution. However, mere supply of water will not quench Karachi’s thirst. Water supply has to be equitable and safe, only then can we ensure compliance with the SDG 6, which calls for safe drinking water for all.

Will the thirst of the different sectors of Karachi be quenched? We have to see how the plans pan out. Oversight by citizens is needed to keep the planners and implementers on their toes.

The writer is a journalist, trainer and development practitioner