Mayor Karachi & Chairman Water Corporation Barrister Murtaza Wahab has said that the actions against water thieves are going on indiscriminately across the city, under Water of Karachi to the people of Karachi. In this regard, I pay tribute to Pakistan Rangers, law enforcement agencies, Sindh Police and Water Corporation administration.
There is a water shortfall in the city, despite this, they are distributing fairly for whatever water is available, there will be no compromise with water thieves, because only citizens have the right to water, the water of the people of Karachi will be delivered to them, in this regard, all illegal hydrants across the city will be demolished and illegal connections will be disconnected, and a plan has been prepared to solve the problems of waste including water supply and drainage in the city, which will be implemented soon.He expressed these views while talking to senior journalists, chief editors, editors, chief reporter and reporters at Chairman Secretariat Karsaz Water Corporation, On this occasion Deputy Mayor Karachi Salman Abdullah Murad, Representative Mayor Karachi for Political Affairs Karamullah Waqasi, CEO Water Corporation Engineer Syed Sallahuddin Ahmed, COO Water Corporation Engineer Asadullah Khan, Deen Muhammad Shar, Nadeem Kirmani, Elahi Bakhsh Bhutto, Syed Sardar Shah and other high officials were present, He said that water is the main problem in local government problems of Karachi, Citizens are worried about water mafia and demand that water be available to them, there is an effort to ensure equitable distribution of water and prevent theft, while citizens are willing to pay the water bill.
Mayor said that the water supply line from Hub Dam to Karachi is very old which was built in 1981, we are working on it, God willing, they will be able to get 100 mgd of water in twenty months, after which more water can be supplied to Karachi from this line, He said that efforts will be made to increase water supply from Kenjhar Lake and Hub Dam, while the K-4 project is being worked on, and the federal government is targeting to complete K-4 in October 2024, so I am not only depending on K4 but also working on Hub Dam, previous federal government stopped the work on K-4 and said that the federation will work on K-4 now, but then only time was wasted from 2018 to 2023 which was the biggest injustice to Karachi.
He said that it has been 85 days and the work on the road map that we had prepared is going on, we have tried diligently to provide immediate relief to the citizens, and in this context we have started action against water mafia, while 70 FIRs have been filed so far in various operations and 75 people have been arrested, an estimated 150 illegal hydrants are operating in the city, with the help of Pakistan Rangers, law enforcement agencies, Sindh Police and Water Corporation, operations were carried out in Janjal Goth, Manghopir, Teen Hatti and Mehmoodabad, this has improved water supply in Orangi Town, New Karachi, North Karachi, DHA, Lyari and Baldia, and an estimated 1 crore gallons of water have been saved by these operations, he said that a new law has been approved by the Sindh Assembly keeping the situation of 2022 and 23 in front, under the new law.
The water corporation can take action to protect its own lines, according to which, if someone operates an illegal hydrant, he will be punished for 5 years and a fine of 50 lakhs, a special court for water cases has been introduced under the new law, because the number of cases in the courts is high, we will approach the Chief Justice to make this court operational, so that immediate action can be taken against those who steal water, Mayor Karachi said that there are currently seven government hydrants running in the city, the income of which goes to the Water Corporation, introducing a metering system for water used at government hydrants, on which the meters will be installed in a few weeks.
